Fate's a Funny Thing
by Musical-mutiny
Summary: A part of Krista couldn't help but feel sorry for the mummy, "So he awakens after 3,000 years to find not only his wife's look alike but she just so happens to be pregnant as well. That explains why he keeps referring to my belly as Abraxes. Fate sure is a funny thing."
1. Chapter 1

_Thebes 2,134 BC_ _Thebes. City of the Living. Crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti the First._ _Home of Imhotep, High Priest of Osiris, Keeper of the Dead, and his beautiful wife Kridasha, Seti's youngest and most treasured daughter. Given to Imhotep for his many years of loyalty to the Pharaoh._ _Thebes, Birthplace of Anck-su-namun. Pharaoh's Mistress. No other man was allowed to touch her._ Anck-su-namun walked into her chambers, ignoring her lover's priests as she made her way to the center of the room where he stood. Imhotep reached out and pulled Anck-su-namun to him and into a feverish kiss. They both knew that at any moments someone could walk through the doors and discover them, but Imhotep was beyond caring. This woman had bewitched him in every way and he loved her more than he had ever loved another, including his beautiful wife. Imhotep's hands roamed over her perfect body, smearing the paint that the Pharaoh had ordered she be covered in.

While the lover's were wrapped in each other's arms they were too engrossed to notice the two occupants on the other side of the palace watching them through the window. Princess Nefertiri and her younger sister Princess Kridasha, Imhotep's young wife could see the entire encounter from the younger princess' balcony. Kridasha's heart was broken. She had no love for her husband, her own heart belonged to another as well, but she had enough respect for him to keep her desires to herself. Dasha felt a lone tear fall from her eye as her hand came to rest upon the swell of her belly. Nefertiri's reached out for her sister's hand, trying to offer some comfort.

As Imhotep's priests move to close the doors and give the couple their privacy, they are suddenly thrown open by the Pharaoh who gives the priest a look of angry confusion, _"What are you doing here?"_

At the sound of Set's voice the lovers quickly break apart and Imhotep ran to hide.

Kridasha and Nefertiri watched their father enter the viper's room, completely unaware that Imhotep is there as well. Dasha looks down and spots Amun the leader of the Medjai standing below her balcony with the rest of the Pharaoh's personal guards, one of which was the object of her affections, Reshet.

 _"Amun! Our father is in danger! You must go to him quickly_!" Dasha called out as both she and Nefertiri point across the balcony towards Anck-su-namun's quarters.

Completely unaware that anything sinister had occurred, Seti strode towards Anck-su-namun's private room and threw the curtains apart. Seeing Anck-su-namun standing alone calmed the Pharaoh. She sent him a sensual smile, and Seti grinned back, walking closer to his mistress. However, upon moving closer to her, Seti was able to make out the smeared paint on her body.

 _"Who had touched you?"_ He exclaimed pointing to the speared pain on her arm. Anck-su-namun looked up at the Pharaoh in horror as Imhotep came up behind him and stole his sword from his side.

Seti turned around quickly only to be confronted with his most trusted priest as well as his son-in- law.

 _"Imhotep? My priest, my Son?"_ Seti questioned somewhat sorrowfully and for just a moment the look of regret is present in Imhotep's eyes.

Behind him, Anck-su-namun lifted her dagger and plunged it into the Pharaoh's back. Seti let out a painful wail as Imhotep raised the sword and pierced him through the chest.

Dasha and Nefertiri watched in horror as their father was killed mercilessly. _"NO!"_ They both cry out; however Nefertiri leaned too far out and fell off the balcony. Kridasha reached out for her sister's hand but at that precise moment she was hit with her first contraction and the pain distracted her long enough to miss the opportunity.

She stood there in shock as her slaves came forward to bring her inside and prepare her for her child's birth. She had lost nearly everyone she loved dearly tonight.

On the other side of the palace Imhotep and Anck-su-namun stood over the body on the Pharaoh as they hear the Medjai breaking down the door.

 _"Pharaoh's bodyguards."_ He snarled as he turned towards the door, and prepared himself for the fight.

Anck-su-namun stopped him, " _You must go. Save yourself, only you can resurrect me."_ She claimed heated as his priest tried to lead him away.

 _"You shall live again, I will resurrect you."_ Imhotep promised as he finally allowed his priests to lead him from the room.

Anck-su-namun turned to face the door as the Medjai burst through, _"My body is no longer his temple!"_ she snarled as she raised the dagger high and plunged it into her heart.

Imhotep watched, hidden, as the woman he loved killed herself as he is once again pulled away by his priests. However before he could fully be removed, he turned his head and caught sight of his wife being lead off the balcony by her maids as she doubled over in pain. Before they pulled her fully inside, Dasha turned her head and glared heatedly at her husband.

Horror and shame washed over Imhotep as he realizes that his young wife had seen the entire occurrence. But even his shame at having his wife see him commit theses heinous acts could not keep Imhotep from resurrecting his love.

 _To Resurrect Anck-su-namun, Imhotep and his priests broke into her crypt and stole her body; they raced deep into the desert to Hamunaptra, city of the dead, ancient burial site for the sons of the Pharaohs and resting place for the wealth of Egypt. For his love, Imhotep date the God's anger by going deep into the city where he took the black book of the dead from its holy resting place. Anck-su-namun's soul had been sent to the dark underworld, her vital organs removed and placed in 5 sacred canopic jars._

Imhotep began to ritual to bring his lover back from the dead, though his mind was too busy worrying over the fact that his wife had seen him leaving the chambers and knew that he had been involved. He couldn't figure out why no one had come to stop him yet. Surely his wife knew what he was doing.

Imhotep didn't know that while he was trying to resurrect Anck-su-namun, his wife was busy bringing new life into the world. At that very moment Princess Kridasha was giving birth to Imhotep's child.

As he continued the ritual, a black figure began to rise from the pool; the black shape placed itself over the body of the Pharaoh's mistress, who immediately upon contact began to shake as she stared up at Imhotep with frightened eyes.

 _Anck-su-namun's soul had come back from the dead, but the Medjai had followed Imhotep on the new Pharaoh's Ramses orders, and the stopped him before the ritual could be completed._

The ritual was almost complete, but the Pharaoh's bodyguards arrived and stopped him. Even in the midst of child birth, Kridasha had enough strength to inform her brother, Ramses of where he husband would go and what he would do with Anck-su-namun's body.

Imhotep looked down defeated as he watched the black shape disappear back into the pool and his lover was still.

Once they arrived back at the palace, Imhotep was brought before the new Pharaoh for judgment. Beside her brother, Kridasha sat hold her son in her arms.

Ramses stood to his feet as he addressed his brother-in-law, _"High Priest Imhotep you are accused of having relations with the former mistress and murderess, Anck-su-namun, who you also tried to resurrect. Do you deny this?"_

 _"No."_ Imhotep replied mournfully as he stared at his wife and the child he would never get to witness grow up. Despite evidence to the contrary, Imhotep really had loved his wife, but it was not the same as the passion that he had shared with Anck-su-namun.

 _"You have also been accused of assisting in the murder of the late Pharaoh, Seti the first and inadvertently causing the death of the Princess Nefertiri, Do you deny these accusations?"_ Ramses was seething with anger as he called these charges out.

Kridasha was barely holding herself together. In one single night most of her family had been taken from her because of this man. She felt a hand lightly placed on her shoulder in comfort and turned to look up at the owner. Rashet, her dear friend, and second in command of the Medjai gave her a supporting smile and a gently squeeze.

 _"Nefertiri, dead?"_ Imhotep was shocked, he hadn't known of the princess' demise. He turned to look at his wife imploringly, hoping that she would speak up on his behalf.

 _"Speak!"_ Ramses shouted in anger, this man was the cause for much hurt in their family and he wanted him gone.

 _"No, I do not deny it."_ Imhotep spoke sorrowfully, his eyes on nothing but his wife and newborn child.

Ramses nodded his head, _"Former High Priest Imhotep, for the crimes you have committed you shall suffer deeply, in this life and the next. You shall be cursed never to find peace. Imhotep for your crimes I sentence you to the Hom-Dai. May the gods never let you be free from your eternal damnation."_

As the guards moved to escort Imhotep from the room, he realized that this would be the lat time he would ever see his wife or child again and he never even got to look upon his child's face, _"Wait!"_ he cried struggling against the guards' hold, his voice stopping everyone in their tracks.

 _"Please,"_ He said softly, _"I do not deserve any kindness for the crimes I have committed, but please as a dead man's last request, permit me to look upon my child's face."_

Everyone looked on shocked before turning to the royal siblings to see their decision. Ramses turned to his sister, _"This decision is left solely up to you, sister."_

Kridasha let out a soft sigh before giving a nod. She motioned Rashet to help he rise, still being sore from childbirth, and he helped her walk towards Imhotep. Once she was standing before him, Dasha shifted the blanket away from the baby's face so his father could take his first look at the boy.

Imhotep was in awe at the sight of his son. He was the most beautiful thing the man had ever seen and he wanted to continue looking at him for the rest of his days. Slowly, he reached out and gently ran a finger down his son's cheek as a tear fell from his eye.

 _"What shall his name be?"_ He questioned softly never taking his eyes away from the child's face.

Kridasha looked down at her son and gave a soft smile, _"Abraxes"_

Imhotep nodded his head in agreement with the name and lifted his head to look at his wife, _"Thank you."_

 _"That is enough,"_ Ramses finally called out, as Rashet maneuvered the princess back up to the dais, _"Take him away."_

 _The medjai would never allow him to be released. For he would arise a walking disease, a plague upon mankind, an unholy flesh-eater, with the strength of ages, power over the sands, and the glory of invincibility._


	2. Chapter 2

Cairo, Egypt 1923

Krista Ibriham had just arrived in Cairo this morning and was currently sitting in the office of a Dr. Bay. She had come to accept the job offer he had presented her with a month prior at a benefit they had both attended in London. Krista was a very skilled historian and translator. She had been on several digs around the world, one dig in particular had recently been the discovery of king tut's tomb.

Krista was the youngest child of her family at the age of 21, having two older half siblings back in London. While both of her parents were native to Egypt, her siblings' father was English; their mother had an affair with an Egyptian man during a dig that resulted in her. Her mother was so ashamed of her actions that she left the little girl with her father and never looked back, until the day the child was deposited on her door step, having nowhere else to go.

"Well, Ms Ibriham, I am very glad that you have decided to accept my offer. The museum could really use someone of your caliber, it is quite an honor to have someone so young yet so accomplished working on our staff. " Dr. Bay said giving the young girl a kind smile.

Krista smiled back, "I'm very happy to be here Dr. Bay, Egyptian history has always been a favorite of mine."

Dr. Bay nodded, "Yes, and as I understand it, you're native to here as well, are you not?"

"Yes sir." She agreed, "My mother and father were both from Cairo, but when my mother left to move to Egypt with her family, I stayed with my father. He died when I was three and I moved in with my mother and her family in London."

"I'm very sorry to hear about your father, and I'm also very sorry to hear that your mother and step father has recently passed as well. A plane crash, if I'm not mistaken." Dr. Bay replied sympathetically.

Krista nodded sadly, "Yes they passed last year, my siblings I are having a bit a rough time with it. If you don't mind Dr. Bay I'd better be getting home, I'd like to get started on all that unpacking." She said as she stood to her feet.

"Oh yes of course." Dr. Bay nodded as he stood to his feet as well and escorted her out of the room and to the front doors of the museum, "I'll see you bright an early tomorrow morning."

The two bid their farewells and she took her leave, weaving in and out of the streets of Cairo. Halfway back to her apartment Krista turned the corner and nearly ran into a young man.

"Oh, I am sorry." Krista said as she looked up at the man she at bumped into. She had to physically keep her mouth from dropping open at the sight before her. He was young, only a couple or so years older than her, and he was gorgeous. He was impressively broad shouldered and at least a foot taller than her 5'3 frame. He had lovely blue eyes framed by thick lashes. He was a bit suntanned and his brown hair had been cut short…And he was in uniform. A Military man.

He gave her a kind smile, "No, no, my fault; I should have been looking where I was going. But I cannot say running into such a beautiful lady is a bad way to start the afternoon." Ah, American.

Krista blushed and gave a shy smile in return, she held out her hand for him to shake, "I'm Krista Ibraham."

The beautiful man reached for her hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it, "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Krista, my name is Rick O'Connell."

"It was very nice meeting you as well, Mr. O'Connell. Now I don't mean to be running off like this but if you will excuse me I have quite a bit of unpacking to finish." She smiled at him sweetly and went to maneuver around him and continue her trek home.

As she was leaving, Rick reached out to stop her from continuing and spoke up, "Before you run off on me and I possibly never see your lovely face again, I would very much like to take you out for a drink. Later tonight, possibly?"

Krista stopped to think about it before smiling brightly and nodded, "That would be lovely, thank you."

Rick grinned back, "Great. I don't have a piece of paper or a pen on me to write your address, but I would be more than happy to walk you the rest of the way home, that way I know where I'm going tonight as well. Is that an acceptable solution to you?"

Krista nodded once again, "That seems a fine solution to our predicament, Mr. O'Connell."

Rick looped her arm through his as they began walking, "Please call me Rick." He replied as he looked down and sent her a wink. Krista hated to admit it but she blushed at the attention he was giving her.

"So," Rick began as they continued their journey, "You said you were unpacking? Is it a new home kind of move, or a new city?"

Krista let out a small laugh, "Both actually, I moved to Egypt earlier this week to accept a job at the local history museum."

Rick nodded in understanding, "And where did you move from?"

"London."

He looked down at her in a bit of surprise, "That's quite a move. Weren't there any good history museum to work at in London?"

Krista nodded with a smile, "Oh yes, I had many offers for jobs in London, But I'm originally from Egypt. I moved to London when I was a little girl after my father died, and I've missed this place terribly. When the museum here in Cairo offered me a job as their Egyptologist I jumped at the offer."

Rick nodded in understanding, "Yes, there really is no place like Egypt." And Krista hummed in agreement.

The journey was a short one, Krista having already made it halfway home before meeting Rick, and before they knew it they were standing before her apartment building bidding goodbyes, and promising to see one another later that evening.

 _While neither one of them knew it at the time, fate had big plans for Richard O'Connell and Krista Ibraham._

 _The two continued to see each other whenever Rick's squadron was in town and eventually they fell head over heels in love with one another. They became inseparable and were completely besotted with one another. Six months in to the relationship Rick was set to be shipped out. The two lovers were despondent at being separated for who knew how long, but Krista promised to wait for him, and Rick promised to think of nothing but her until she was once again in his arms._

 _Rick was gone for nine long months and when he did finally return, the two lovers decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other. They decided that they wanted to get married before they were separated again, and a week after returning home Richard O'Connell and Krista Ibraham were married. They were blissfully happy until a year later when Rick was once again deployed. This time would see them separated for a year and a half._


	3. Chapter 3

Cairo, Egypt 1926

Krista O'Connell was huddled in the corner of the library, going over some letters that Dr. Bay had requested she translate. From where she was sitting she could faintly hear her sister muttering to herself, it sounded almost as if the girl was speaking to the books and it was all Krista could do to keep herself from laughing, Evy would not appreciate that at all.

"T…Tuthmosis? What are you doing here?" She heard Evy mutter to herself once more then there was silence until she heard a soft cry, "Help."

There was a light scream, then thump. Krista finally looked up from the paper she was translating to see the large bookcase hurtling towards her. She had just enough time to scramble out of the way before the case came falling to the ground hard.

Both she and Evy stood back as they watch in stunned disbelief as every bookshelf in the library fell over, tumbling down like domino. When the dust had finally settled and there was no more bookcases falling, Krista looked over to her sister in shock.

"Oops." Evy whispered to herself as she too looked at the destruction she had caused.

There was a gasp from the entryway and both girls' heads snapped towards the sound. At the sight of Dr. Bay, the museum's curator, Krista knew that Evy was in for a tongue lashing.

"Uh, oh." Krista whispered and Evy shot her a dirty look.

Dr. Bay slowly walked further into the library and glanced around at the mess in horror. Krista couldn't help but feel sorry for the man, this museum was his pride and joy and at the moment his library was in ruins. Finally after scoping out the place, Dr. Bay's eyes came to rest on the sister, or more accurately, Evy.

He sent her a glare so hard that the gods themselves would fear, "Look at this! Sons of the Messiah! Give me frogs, flies, locusts! Anything but you! Compared to you the other plagues were a joy!" He yelled as walked even closer to the girls.

Evy looked like a kicked puppy as she bowed her head, "I'm sorry, it was an accident."

Dr. Bay shook his head, "My dear girl, when Ramses destroyed Syria that was an accident. You are a catastrophe!" He finished off with a yell.

Krista cut in, "Dr. Bay, I think you're being a bit too hard on Evy. She didn't mean to do this." Evy just sent her a glare for her attempt to help diffuse the situation.

"Why do I put up with you?" he questions with a sigh.

Evy looked up with an indignant frown, "You put up with me, because I can read and write ancient Egyptian, decipher hieroglyphs and hieratic, and I'm the only person within a thousand miles who knows how to properly code and catalogue this library."

Dr. Bay scoffed, "Oh please, your sister can do all of this as well. I put up with you because your mother and father were our finest patrons, Allah rest their souls. And because I greatly respect your sister and she vouched for you, Allah knows why. Now straighten up this mess!" And with that he stormed out of the library and Evy quietly moved to begin collecting the book from the ground.

Krista squatted down to pick up a couple of books herself, "Here, I'll help you."

Evy slammed the book in her hands on a nearby table, "I don't need your help, Krista! Just go away and leave me in peace to clean up this mess."

Krista frowned angrily, slamming her own books down as well, "Fine, Take care of cleaning all this up by yourself and see if I ever offer to help you again!" She turned to storm out of the room.

A loud banging noise coming from the room behind them stopped both girls in their tracks. They turned to stare at one another before Evy called out, "Hello?"

When there was no answer, both girls slowly moved closer towards the room, it was quiet for a moment, and then the girls hear the noise once more.

"Abdul?"

"Mohammed?"

"Bob?"

Still no answer was received but there was another loud bang. Krista quickly pulled the gun out from the waist band of her skirt and held it at her side.

Evy looked down at the gun in shock, "Where on earth did you get that?" she whispered/yelled

Krista shushed her older sister, "Now is not the time for questions."

Once more another loud band occurred and both girls identified that it was coming from the sarcophagus, moving closer and closer until they were both able to lookdown into the casket.

Suddenly the mummy inside sat up and frightened both the girls. Evy and Krista let out a scream and immediately latched on to one another. Krista lifted her gun and pointed it at the mummy.

She was just about to shoot when she hear, "Don't shoot old girl, it's just me! It's Jonathan!"

"Janathan! You arsehole!" Krista exclaimed as she reached forward and smacked him in the chest.

"Have you no respect for the dead?" Evy cried, exasperated.

"Of course I do. But sometimes I'd rather like to join them." Jonathan said as he wrapped his arm around the mummy's shoulders. He gave a nervous look at the gun his baby sister was holding, "Wher-" he licked his lips, "Where did you get that gun from, Kris?"

Krista frowned nervously, how was she supposed to tell them that it was a gift from her husband? Neither one of her siblings knew that she was a married woman. Not at that it mattered at the moment, there was no husband to introduce them to. After Rick had gotten back from the war he had spent a few months at home with her and then all of the sudden a month ago he went out for a drink and hadn't returned since. Krista couldn't find any traces of him anywhere.

"That is none of your business Jonathan, now would you please come out of there before Dr. Bay comes around the corner." Krista hissed at her big brother.

"If you want to join the dead, Jonathan, I wish you would do it sooner rather than later, before you ruin my career like you ruined yours. Now please do as Krista said and get out of that box." Evy snapped at him.

"Oh my dear sweet baby sisters, I'll have you know that at this moment my career is on a high note." Jonathan pronounced as he stumbled drunkenly out of the sarcophagus. Evy hastily running behind him to fix the mummy back into place, while Krista tried desperately to keep Jonathan from falling and knocking any artifacts over.

Krista couldn't help but laugh at her blundering older brother, while Evy did nothing but scoff, "High note? Ha! For five years you've been scrounging around Egypt, and what have you to show for it? Nothing. Now Jonathan please, I am really not in the mood for you."

"Oh but I have something here for the two of you!" He exclaimed as he began searching his pockets. Evy let out a moan and Krista smirked at their eccentric older brother, "Oh no, not another worthless trinket, Jonathan, if I bring one more piece of junk to the Curator to try and sell for you…." She trailed off as Jonathan produces this puzzle like box from his pocket and placed it in Krista's hand.

Krista let out a soft gasp, "Jonathan…"

"…Where did you get this?" Evy finished in awe of the box in her sister's hands.

Jonathan stuffed his hands in his pockets, "On a dig, down in Thebes."

Krista looked up and smirked at her big brother, oh she could always tell when he was lying, and he knew it too. That's why he wouldn't make eye contact with her. But for now she would ignore the fact that he probably stole the artifact from some poor idiot. Krista was more focused on trying to translate the hieratics and hieroglyphs covering the box.

Jonathan couldn't sit still as he watched his little sisters try to decode the box, "My whole life I've never found anything. Please tell me I've found something." He begged them, the desperation evident in his eyes. Evy was also looking on hopefully.

Krista began playing around with the box moving the various little slats, shifting them this way and that. It was a puzzle box and Krista was determined to figure it out. Suddenly the box unfolded itself and sitting inside the open box was a folded piece of golden papyrus. A map!

Krista's eyes widened and she looked up at her siblings in excitement, "Jonathan…" she breathed.

His eyes were so wide, Krista worried that they might pop out, "Yes?"

She smiled widely at him, "You've definitely found something."

* * *

Dr. Bay sat behind his desk, studying the box the three siblings had brought him. Evy and Jonathan standing in front of the desk practically bouncing with excitement as Krista stood beside the curator.

"See the cartouche there; it's the official royal seal of Seti the first, is it not?" Krista asked pointing out the detail.

"Perhaps." He hummed not taking his eyes off the box.

Jonathan then leaned forward and spoke up, "Two questions. Who is Seti the first? And was he rich?"

Krista rolled her eyes at her brother's one track mind, while Evy nodded absentmindedly, "He was the last Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom. He is said to be the wealthiest Pharaoh of them all."

Jonathan smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Alright good, that's very good. I like this fellow, like him very much."

Krista smirked up at her brother, "You're such a greedy bastard." She teased and Jonathan grinned back at her.

Evy glared at her little sister, "Krista! Language!"

Both siblings roll their eyes at their sister while Dr. Bay picks up the map to examine in more closely.

Krista stepped forward and spoke to the Dr. "I've already dated the map, it's almost four thousand years old; and the hieratics over here…. I believe it's Hamunaptra."

Evy's eyes widen considerable and a grin starts to form on her face. Dr. Bay also seemed effected by the name, freezing up for a moment before forcing himself to relax as he replies, "My dear girl, don't be ridiculous. We are scholars, not treasure hunters. Hamunaptra is nothing but a myth."

Jonathan spoke up, acting as though he hadn't even heard the Dr. speak, "Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?"

Evy answered this time, "Yes, the City of the Dead. Where the early Pharaohs were said to have hidden the wealth of Egypt."

Jonathan nodded in agreement "Right, right, in a big underground treasure chamber. Everybody knows the story. The entire necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand. On Pharaoh's command, a flick of the switch! And the whole place could disappear beneath the dunes." He finished his rant and turned to stare at is two sisters.

Krista spoke up, "All we know is that the city mysteriously vanished around 2,134 B.C."

The siblings were too caught up in speaking amongst themselves to notice Dr. Bay moving the map closer to the flame of his candle, "As the Americans would say: It's all fairy tales and hokum."

The map suddenly burst into flames and the good doctor threw it to the ground. Jonathan quickly rushed to his knees and began patting the fire down. Once it had been successful put out he lifted the map up. Unfortunately one third of the left side of the map was now gone.

Jonathan looked up at the curator and exclaimed angrily, "You burned it! You burned off the part with the lost city!"

Krista and Evy stare down at the map forlornly as Dr. Bay replied, "It's for the best I'm sure. Many men have wasted their lives in the foolish pursuit of Hamunaptra, yet no one has ever found it. Most of them have never returned."

Poor Jonathan looked just devastated, "You killed my map." He whined.

Dr. Bay scoffed, "I'm sure it was a fake anyway, I'm surprised at the both you girls, to be so fooled." He scolded both Evy and Krista as he reaches for the box, but Evy was quicker and managed to snatch it off the desk before he could grab it.

The three siblings made their way out of the museum and once they were in the streets Evy turned to Jonathan, "Well now that we have no map, it is imperative that you take us to the place you discovered the box. Perhaps there are a few more clues we can scrounge up to lead us to the city."

Jonathan suddenly couldn't make eye contact with his sisters, "Well you see… I may have…. You know, uh stolen it." He whispered the last part, hoping that maybe they wouldn't heard him.

"What!" Evy exclaimed

Krista just smirked, "Pick some poor old bloke's pocket again, didn't you?"

Evy just sighed as Jonathan winked at his youngest sister, "Well do you happen to know where we can find the person you stole this from?"

"Well I don't know the chap personally, but I do know where to find him." Jonathan offered looking hopeful.

"Where?" The sisters demanded in unison

Jonathan winced, "He's being held in Cairo prison."

Evy sighed, "Well, come on then no time like the present."

The two older siblings began to walk away only to be stopped by their younger sister, "Actually you two are going to have to go this one alone."

"What?"

"Why?" the siblings cried once again in unison

Krista winced, "I have an appointment to be at in 15 minutes, and I've rescheduled three times already, and I just can't miss. I'm sorry but I'll come by the apartment tonight to get all the information from you two."

The siblings all agreed to this plan and they went their separate ways.


	4. Chapter 4

Giza Port, Cairo, Egypt

Krista, Jonathan and Evy were at Giza port, waiting for the man that Jonathan had stolen the box from. Apparently he was going to lead them to Hamunaptra. The two older siblings hadn't given Krista much information on the man, except that he had been dirty and rude and he had punched Jonathan and kissed Evy. Krista couldn't wait to meet him.

"Do you really think he's going to show up?" Evy asked once they finally made it to the launch.

"Undoubtedly yes, knowing my luck. He may be a cowboy, but I know the breed. His word is his word." Jonathan responded as he greeted a few people walking past them.

Krista looked up confused, "He's American?"

Before Jonathan could answer Evy cut in, "Well personally, I think he's filthy, rude, and a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit."

"Oh come now Evy, don't you think you're being a bit hard on the man? He couldn't have had a nice go of it in that prison." Krista tried to console her sister a bit but all she got in return was a heated glare.

Evy huffed, "I still don't like him."

"Anyone I know?" A voice said behind her and instantly Krista recognized the owner. She shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath before turning around to face her husband.

Upon seeing her face, she could tell that Richard O'Connell was well and truly shocked to see her just as much as she was shocked to see him there.

"Hello Rick." She said softly, tears lightly filling her eyes that she forced back. She would not cry in front of her siblings.

"Kris…what are you doing here?" he asked quietly, he couldn't stop staring at her. He had missed her beautiful face.

She let out a sardonic chuckle, "I could ask you the same thing. You've been in prison this whole time, never sent any word to me to let me know where you were. And now here you are ready to board a boat and lead my siblings to Hamunaptra instead of coming home to me."

Rick looked at the ground guiltily, "I'm sorry Kris, I was set to be hung I didn't want you to worry about me, I knew I'd get out of it so there was no reason to get you involved. And I was going to come see you after I got back from Hamunaptra that why I wouldn't have to leave again so soon after reuniting." He informed her as he took a step closer.

Krista sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Shouldn't I have gotten a say in any of this?"

Rick nodded and closed the distance between them, bringing her into his arms, "Yes you should have and I am deeply sorry that I was so thoughtless about your feelings." He placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look up at him, "Truce?"

Krista gave a small half smile, "Truce… for now." She whispered standing on her tip-toes to plant a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Uh, Krissy old girl, you have something to tell us?" Jonathan questioned from behind them where he and Evy were standing dumbfounded.

The couple broke apart but Rick didn't release her waste, Krista turned to face her siblings, "Well I guess the cat's out of the bag. Evelyn, Jonathan, this is Richard O'Connell… my husband."

"What!?"

Krista winced at the shrill sound of her older sister's voice and she saw Rick and Jonathan flinch back as well.

"Since when have you been married Kristaline Marie Ibriham?" Evy Questioned heated

"Um, almost four years now." Krista answered hesitantly

Evelyn glared at her but didn't respond. She turned her face away from her sister and stuck her nose in the air indignantly. Ah so it was going to be the silent treatment then.

"Oh well, anyway," Jonathan spoke up trying to diffuse the awkward situation, "Smashing day for the start of an adventure, eh, O'Connell?" as he reached over to pat the man's arm.

Rick nodded, "Yeah, yeah smashing." He replied never taking his eyes of Jonathan as he reached inside his coat pocket to make sure everything was still there.

"Oh no, no I'd never steal from a partner, partner; especially with you being family now." Jonathan assured as he smiled as Rick looked almost convinced.

Krista looked at her older brother in faux confusion, "You steal from me all the time and I'm your baby sister." Rick let out a chuckle as Jonathon sent her a mock glare.

"Oh," Rick commented, "That reminds me, no hard feelings about the…" he tried off as he mimed punching Jonathan.

Jonathan waived him off, "Oh no, it happens all the time. Usually by little Krissy there. Say," he suddenly had a thought, "You didn't happen to teach her how to throw that punch, did you?"

Rick grinned, "Guilty."

"Mr. O'Connell," Evy interrupted them, "Can you look me in the eye and guarantee that this isn't some kind of a flimflam. Because if it is I am warning you…" she was cut off by Rick scoffing at her.

You're warning me?" He questioned incredulously, "Let me put it to you this way _sister._ My Colonel found that map in an ancient fortress, and the whole damn garrison believed in it so much, that without orders, we marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city. Like I told ya, all I saw was sand and blood. Everybody else was wiped-out by Tuareg warriors."

Krista reached out and placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulders. "Well done Evy." Krista said smartly.

Evy turned her glare on her, "Don't you start with me, missy. Keeping a secret this big from your family for four years. Why didn't you ever tell any of us? Are there any more secrets that are going to spring up? Maybe you have a couple children you forgot to mention hiding on your person!" Evy screamed the last part but didn't miss the way her sister's face contorted at the last accusation. She let out a gasp, "Oh my god you do have children!"

Rick was quick to cut in this time, "No, no, there are no children here. Kris and I don't have any children yet."

Krista finally found her voice, "Well actually that's not entirely true." Her confession had three sets of eyes swiveling in her direction.

Rick stepped forward and licked his lips nervously, "You got something to tell me Kris?"

She nodded her head shakily, "We're going to have a baby." She whispered so quietly that they were the only two that heard her confession.

Rick stood there and stared at her for a long while before reaching out and grabbing her bag from her hand, "We'll talk about this some more when there's privacy." And with that he headed up to the boat.

Evy and Jonathan cautiously walked up to their little sister, "So, You're pregnant?" Jonathan asked quietly.

Krista looked up at him and nodded before turning and following her husband onto the boat. It was going to be one hell of a night.

* * *

Upon reaching their cabin, Krista found her husband waiting for her, sitting on the bed cleaning his guns. She turned to shut the door behind her and once it was closed Rick finally began speaking.

"When were you planning on telling me?"

Krista scoffed and Rick turned to look up at her sharply, "Rick this is literally the first time I'm seeing you in little over a month. When have I had time to tell you? I didn't know before you left."

Rick gave her a grudging nod of understanding, "Okay, I understand that."

After a beat of silence he put the gun away and stood up. Moving closer to his wife he looked down at her belly, "We're really having a baby?"

Krista gave a small smile, "Yes, we're really having a baby. Here, take a look." She said as she un-tucked her shirt from her skirt and turned sideways so he could see her little bump.

Rick was in awe, "How are far into this are we?" he asked as he knelt down and reached out to rub the bump.

"The doctors think I'm a little over three months." Krista answered and she watched him rub her belly gently. She loved this man.

Rick stood to his feet and wrapped her up in a tight hug, "I love you Mrs. O'Connell."

Krista grinned up at him, "I love you too, Mr. O'Connell."

Suddenly Rick let out a small wince, "Oh, there is something I should probably mention… I kissed your sister."

Krista frowned, "I know, they already told me."

"In my defense," Rick started, "I thought I was about to die, and your sister's face reminded me a bit of you. I didn't understand why then, but now I do."

"Rick," She interrupted him, "I'm not mad."

"You're not?"

Krista shook her head, "No, not about the kiss, I understand the situation you were in and that you were not really in the right mind set at the time. Though, I am still angry with you for landing yourself in prison and not informing your wife about it. No, instead you decided to let me worry about what had happened to you." She finished her rant throwing her hand into the air dramatically.

"I know that was a terrible thing for me to do to you. I didn't think I'd be in there as long as I was and I didn't want to worry you unnecessarily. I promise the next time I end up in prison you'll be the first to know." Rick informed her with a sarcastic grin.

Krista raised her eyebrow at his smart-aleck comment and laughed, "I do have a question, though."

"What?"

"Was she better than me?" She questioned saucily, her hands on her hips.

Rick grinned down at her and shook his head, "Oh honey, nobody is better than you. You're the best I've ever had."

"Hmm, I not sure I fully believe you there, dear, I might need to convincing." Krista looked on thoughtfully.

"Well if it's convincing you need, then that's what you'll get." He smirked as he playfully lunged for his wife and took her to the bed, where they stayed for the rest of the afternoon.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick left their cabin a few hours later with his gun sack leaving Krista to go to sleep early, having been worn her out from their earlier activities. Once he reached the top deck he decided to try and find a quiet place to clean his gun. That was when he noticed Jonathan, Kris' older brother and three Americans playing poker.

"Sit down, O'Connell, sit down, we could use another good player. Where's Krissy at, then?" Jonathan called out, finally noticing Rick.

Rick grinned at the men, "Your sister decided to turn in early, poor thing is exhausted. And she would kill me if I gambled away all the money, besides I only gamble with my life."

Jonathan shot him a disgusted look, understanding his innuendo pertaining to his baby sister while the other men smirked.

"Never?" One of the Americans questioned smirking up at Rick, "What if I was to wager five hundred dollars says we get to Hamunaptra before you? I'm sure the missus wouldn't mind too much."

Rick looked at the man in confusions, "You're looking for Hamunaptra?"

"Damn straight we are." The blonde American confirmed.

"And who says we are?" Rick questioned already having a pretty good idea as to who spilled the beans.

All three Americans pointed to Jonathan, "He does."

Jonathan looked up at Rick sheepishly and shrugged.

The dark haired cocky one spoke up again, "So how bout it? Is it a bet? Or are you too afraid at what your wife will say about it?"

O'Connell returns the man's cocky look, "All right, you're on."

Suddenly right across from where they're all sitting a man with a fez and monocle cut in, "What makes you so confident, sir?"

"Well, what makes you?" Rick smarted back

The blonde cowboy spoke up this time, "We got us a man who's actually been there."

Rick's poker face slipped at bit at that news, while Jonathan looked up and opened his mouth, "I say, what a coincidence, why O'conn…" he never got to finish his sentence because Rick 'accidentally' hit him in the back with his gun sack, shutting him up.

Jonathan quickly covers, "…whose deal is it? Is it my deal? I thought…" he trailed off

Rick looked back up at the men, "Gentlemen, we got us a wager. Good evening" he nodded to the men, "Jonathan." He said as he placed his hand on Jonathan's shoulder and squeezed so hard the joints popped before walking off.

Once Rick gets a good bit of distance between them he finds Evelyn Carnahan sitting at a table reading a book. He smirked as he walked up her and…bang! The gun sack dropped onto the table, startling her.

Rick snickered, "Sorry didn't mean to scare you."

Evy huffed, "The only thing that scares me, Mr. O'Connell, is your manners."

Rick winced playfully, "Still angry that I kissed you, huh? Or are you angry that I married your sister and knocked her up?"

Evy chose to ignore the comment he make about Krista, "If you call that a kiss."

Rick smirked as he snapped his bag apart, once it was opened inside there were revolvers, pistols, hunting knives, a massive elephant gun, and a half dozen carefully wrapped sticks of dynamite.

Evy looked on curiously, "Did I miss something? Are we going into battle?"

Rick started dismantling and cleaning the guns, "Lady, there's something out there, you know, something under that sand."

Evy waived his warning off, "Yes, I'm hoping to find a certain artifact, a book, actually, my brother thinks there's treasure. What do you think is out there?"

Rick looked into Evelyn's eyes and said seriously, In a word, Evil. The Tuaregs and the Bedouin believe that Hamunaptra is cursed"

Evy scoffed at him and smiled, "I don't believe in fairy tales and hokum, Mister O'Connell, but I do believe that one of the most famous books in history is buried out there, The Book of the Living It's what first interested me in Egypt as a child. It's why I came here, sort of a life's pursuit."

Rick smirked back, and continued cleaning the gun, "And the fact that they say it's made out of pure gold, makes no never mind to you, right?"

Evelyn looked at him, surprised by his knowledge, "You know your history."

He shook his head, "I know my treasure… plus your sister talks about Egyptian history incessantly, its hard not to retain some of the information."

Evelyn got up to leave, and then she hesitated. Nervously, she turned back to O'Connell, and as matter-of-fact as possible questioned, "By the way ...why did you kiss me?"

Rick kept on cleaning his gun, and just shrugged his shoulders. He chuckled, "I was about to be hanged, you look a bit like my wife. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Evelyn's eyes widen, and she turned to storm off furiously.

Rick looked up, watched her leave, and a bit perplexed he asked, "What? ... What'd I say?"

He finally just shrugged and went back to re pack his guns, when he heard a bump right down from where he was sitting. Rick stood up and pulled out his pistol. He walked over to where the sound came from and quickly reached around and grabbed the person, lifted him up.

"My very good friend! What a surprise" The little man exclaimed in mock happiness

Rick sneered, "Why if it ain't my little buddy, Beni. I outta kill you." He said cocking his gun.

"Wait!" cried Beni, terrified, "Think of my children!"

"You don't have any children" Rick said angrily

Beni looked up pathetically, "Someday I might."

"Shut up," Rick shook him a little, "So you're the one leading the Americans, I shoulda figured. So what's the scam? You get 'em out in the middle of the desert then leave 'em to rot?"

Beni sighed despondently, "Unfortunately no, these Americans are smart, they pay me only half now, half when I get them back to Cairo, so I must go all the way."

Rick grinned sardonically as he pulled the pistol away from Beni's face, "Them's the breaks, huh?"

Beni looked up at Rick in confusion, "You never believed in Hamunaptra, O'Connell. Why are you going back? The devil himself lives out there." The two men turned to look down the other side of the boat as they hear a yelp. They see Evelyn Carnahan standing next to a camel in the horse paddock. The camel reached out to take another bite at her. Evy let out another yelp of pain again and backed away. O'Connell grinned at the sight in humor before Evy turned to look at the two men staring at her. Evy let out an indignant huff and marched off.

"The girl saved my life," Rick said nodding in the direction she disappeared to, "figured it was the least I could do, keep her out of trouble. It helps that she's my wife's sister too."

Beni reached over and patted Rick on the arm, "You always did have more balls than brains."

Rick looked at Beni for a second, and Beni began to fear for his life, until Rick started laughing. Beni, thinking he's in the clear, started laughing along with him. Rick looped his arm over the smaller man's shoulder and they began walking away.

Suddenly rick grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him off the side of the boat, "Goodbye, Beni."

"O'Connell!" The little man shouted, and then there was a large splash. Rick grinned and turned to go join his lovely wife in bed. That's when he spotted THREE SETS OF WET FOOTPRINTS, coming up over the railing from the river and heading down the deck.

"Krista." He whispered worriedly before taking off down the deck.

* * *

Krista didn't know what had woken her up, but when she opened her eyes there was a man standing above her covered from head to toe in black with only his eyes exposed. He was standing at her bedside watching her with a sword in his hands, and when he saw that she was awake he raised the sword to her neck. Krista's hand immediately moved to her belly in fear.

The cloaked man noticed her movement and looked to where he hand now lay, he could see the light swelling of her stomach and his eyes widened in realization. He slowly moved his sword back down until it rested at his side once again. He shifted and looked back up to her face and suddenly his eyes once again widened, but this time it was in recognition. The man immediately dropped to his knees in a bow.

 ** _"Please forgive me for threatening you princess, I did not recognize you."_** The man spoke quickly in Arabic.

Krista watched the man nervously and slowly sat up from her bed, **_"What are you talking about? Do I know you?"_**

The man shook his head, **_"No, my princess. But you must leave this boat immediately. The safety of you and your unborn child depends upon it."_** And with that he stood back to his feet and darted back through the doorway, leaving her sitting on her bed absolutely confused at what had just occurred.

Shortly after the cloaked man had run off, Rick came stumbling in the room, sweaty and out of breath, "Krista, come on we gotta go. The ship is on fire!"

Krista's eyes widened in fear, "How the hell did this happen?" She cried as she stood up and quickly wrapped herself up in her robe, "I swear to the gods Rick, I leave you alone for two minutes."

The two ran out of their room and met up with Evy and Jonathan who were running out of her room that was now engulfed in flamed, "I didn't do it!" Rick cried indignantly as he began herding the two older siblings down the hall.

"Oh wait!" Evy cried as she tried to turn back, "I forgot the map!"

"Relax!" Rick yelled back as he grabbed her arm and hauled her back, "I'm the map! It's all up here." He said tapping his forehead.

"Oh yes," Krista said sarcastically, "and we call know how well you retain information."

Once they reached the top of the boat Rick turned to Evy and Jonathan, "Can you two swim?"

Evy looked at him stupidly, "Well of course I can swim, if the occasion calls for it!"

"Trust me," Rick started as he picked her up and threw her overboard, "it calls for it."

Rick then turned to face Jonathan, "You're next, go."

Jonathan, not needing to be told twice, immediately jumped over the railing.

Then it was just Rick and Krista. Before anything could be said, the two heard a whiny voice calling for Rick, "O'Connell, O'Connell! What are we going to do?" he asked, panicked

Rick looked at the man and held up is hands, "Wait here, we'll get help." And the warden nodded in acceptance.

Rick turned to her and pulled her closely to him, "Wrap your arms around me." Krista did as he said and once she was secure, he jumped off the boat as well.

Upon safely landing in the water, Rick released Krista and they all started swimming for shore. Once they were finally on dry land, everything seemed to calm down a bit until Evy began to complain.

"Oh goodness, we've lost everything! All of our tools! All my clothes!" she cried as she stood there in one of her long nightgowns.

Once she saw that Krista had been smart enough to grab her robe, she demanded, "Krista, give me your robe, my gown is soaking wet!"

Krista frowned at Evy, "Yes well so is mine. At least yours is long enough to protect your modesty." And with that Evy shut her mouth.

Krista saw Jonathan give her a look of disgust and the warden started leering at her, looking as though he was trying to burn a hole through her robe with his eyes, until Rick reached over and smacked him upside his head. The warden let out a yelp of pain but turned his head away from her.

"Hey O'Connell," Someone shouted from the other side of the river and everyone turned their heads to look, "looks to me like I got all the horses!"

Rick just smirked at the man, "Hey Beni! Looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the Riverrrrr!" he sang out the last word mockingly. The little man frown thoughtfully and began looking around, before he started cursing and kicking at the water.


	6. Chapter 6

Bedouin Trading Post

When they arrived at the trading post the girls were immediately swept away by local women to get new clothes. The women began giggling when Krista removed her robe and was clad only in her thin thigh high nightie.

Evy was given a lovely black dress with a matching veil with gold designs running along it, while the women gave Krista a beautiful two piece outfit. A pair of white harem pants with a gold belt around it, and a matching white long sleeve top that parted right above her belly button, the top had gold lining the edges of the top as well as on the cuffs. And they paired it with a matching scarf to cover both the top of her head and the bottom of her face.

Once they women were finished dressing the girls, they brought them over to sit down so they could begin fixing their hair and lining their eyes with coal.

Finally the women were finished pampering the two girls and led them out of the tent. Krista could hear Jonathan and Rick nearby talking and she turned to look in their direction.

"We could have had them for free; all we had to do was give them your sister." Rick said to Jonathan

"Or you're wife," Jonathan replied cheekily, "awfully tempting, wasn't it?"

Rick finally seemed to notice the girls walking towards them and stopped to stare at how beautiful his wife looked, "Awfully."

Krista blushed at his attention and sent him a wink as she sauntered over to him and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. Neither noticed Evy glaring at the two.

Rick helped Krista get situated on her camel and made sure they had everything they needed, before they began their journey.

* * *

They had been riding through the desert for a few hours and Jonathan had made it his mission on this trip to drive everyone crazy with his incessant talking.

"Never did like camels, the filthy buggers. They smell, they bite, they spit; disgusting." He complained from atop his camel, and Krista rolled her eyes at him. He was such a delicate flower.

The warden was sitting a ways away from every one else, his smell kept bringing on bouts of nausea in Krista so Rick made him move, and he was savagely attacking a chicken wing with his vile green teeth. Flies buzzed around his head. He sucked at his gums, and then spit out some gristle into the sand.

Rick looked at him, "Yeah, disgusting." He mumbled loud enough for only Krista to hear.

She grimaced at the sight before turning to her brother, "Don't worry Jonathan that camel probably likes you just as much as you like it."

Jonathan nodded his head distractedly until he caught on to what she had said, "Oy! I'll have you know, Krissy dear, that I am a very likeable person."

"Well, I think they're cute." Evy cut in as she reached down to pet her camel.

* * *

The journey to Hamunaptra was taking quite a long while. As it was they had already been traveling for a few days now and everyone was exhausted. Night had recently fallen and Evy was currently asleep atop her camel as was Jonathan, though he kept waking up to smack the snoring warden with his whip before dozing back off again.

Rick had moved Krista onto his camel earlier, and now she sat in front of him fast asleep using his chest as a pillow. His hand was splayed protectively across her belly as he looked up at the distant ridge, only to see the same riders dressed in black he saw the last time he was there. Rick's arm tightened slightly around Krista at the sight of those men.

* * *

It was early the next morning, and Rick said they would be arriving at Hamunaptra soon. Evy and Krista was a bundle of excitement and the two could barely contain themselves.

Jonathan was currently arguing with the warden, "And you snore!" Jonathan exclaimed

"I do not snore!" The Warden denied heatedly

"All night you snored!"

"I have never snored!" Their argument was ignored by everyone else.

Rick turned to look at Krista, who had moved back to her own camel when she awoke, "We're almost there."

Krista smiled brightly at the news while Evy asked, "Are you sure?"

Rick looked down at the ground, "Pretty sure."Everyone followed his line of sight and saw dozens of skeletons sticking out of the ground, bleached and eaten away. Some of the skeletons looked as though they were trying to crawl up out of the desert floor.

Jonathan looked at them, horrified, "What in bloody hell is this?"

The Warden shivered in fear, "Other seekers of Hamunaptra."

Krista looked over at Evy, who was a bit frightened at the sight, and Krista had remind herself that while Evy talked a big game, this was the first time she had been out in the field. Rick reached over and squeezed Krista's hand tightly, and she reciprocated with a lightly squeeze of her own, Just then, the American Expedition rode out from behind the far end of some dunes. The Americans were accompanied by two dozen native diggers and an Arab Egyptologist. Beni rode in the lead on a camel, while the rest rode their horses.

"Good morning, my friend!" Beni said brightly.

Rick just nodded.

The two parties came to a stop a hundred feet apart. Krista looked over at the American's party and noticed that while most of them were either on a camel or a horse, there was one man riding a donkey hold a parasol.

She turned to look at Rick, "Is he really riding a donkey, holding an umbrella or is the sun starting to get to me?"

Rick smirked as he looked over at the man, "Nope he really is."

Krista turned to look at Jonathan, "I am so sorry I called you a delicate flower, Jonathan. The shrinking violet is that professor over there." She said pointing to the man making all four of them laugh.

Suddenly Jonathan paused, "Wait, you never called me a delicate flower." He stated, confused.

Krista shrugged, "In my head I did." Making Jonathan pout and the other two smirked at them.

Rick turned and stared out across the endless horizon with Beni doing the same. The Americans looked on puzzled.

"Well, what the hell we doin'?" The American named Daniels questions.

"Patience, my good sahib, patience." The little man reassured him

One of the other American's named Henderson looked over at Rick, "First one to the city, O'Connell! Five hundred! Cash bucks!"

Krista's eyes widen and her head swiveled over to Rick, "You bet these man five hundred dollars, Richard O'Connell?" Rick let out a wince and shot the American a glare for ratting him out. "And when were you planning on telling me this?" she questioned

Rick shrugged, "When I won. Now get ready."

Evy looked around, confused, "For what?"

Rick smirked, "We're about to be shown the way."

Far off to the right, a huge shape began to rise with the sun. A volcano. Rick and Beni watched it, expressionless. Daniels, Henderson and Burns shared a look, and then, "HEYA!" The Americans took off, racing towards the rising volcano.

"SEE YA THERE, O'CONNELL!" Daniels yelled back at them

Jonathan sent Rick an anxious, sarcastic looks, "Ah, begging your pardon, but shouldn't we be going?"

Evy huffed, "After all, you rode us night and day to win that bet."

Krista's eyes widen, "You told me it was because it would be too dangerous to stop for the night. You made me sleep on a camel so you could win this stupid bet?" Rick looked sheepishly at her and gave a nervous shrug; Krista just gave him a glare.

Beni watched the Americans go and spit into the sand, "Fools"

Rick looked over at Krista and grabbed her hand to catch her attention, "Don't worry about catching up with us. Go at your own pace. I don't want you or baby getting hurt trying to compete in this race." He said as he pulled her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on the back of it.

Krista sent him a sweet smile, "I promise to be very careful and to not take on anymore than I can handle."

Suddenly, the volcano shifted across the horizon, passing across the sun as it went. It was a mirage. The Americans crashed their horses to a stop and raced the other way, after the volcano. Krista, Evelyn and Jonathan smiled, completely amazed The volcano shifted again, floating across the watery horizon. The Americans crashed to a stop again and chased after the volcano. All three of them were confused and cursing.

O'Connell and Beni just stared, waiting. The volcano shifted again. And the Americans crashed to another stop again. Burns was thrown from his horse. Henderson angrily ripped his hat off and chucked it to the ground. Daniels just cursed up a storm as they finally gave up the chase. The volcano finally came to a stop on the far left of the horizon. The Americans are on the far right.

No one moved for a beat, and then Rick grinned, as did Beni. The two shared a look. They swatted their camels and raced away. Everybody else hauled-ass after them, minus Krista who was contented to follow behind more slowly. O'Connell and Beni were neck-and-neck, until Evy came galloping up, hair flying in the wind. Beni took out his camel whip and starts hitting Rick trying to knock him off his camel. But on the third try Rick grabbed the whip and jerked Beni off his camel. Beni slammed to the ground and tumbles around.

Evy and Rick raced across the desert. Beni stumbled to his feet, then quickly dances out of the way as Jonathan and Krista and all the other riders stampeded past him. Evy beat O'Connell to the stone ramp, racing hard.

"Evelyn! Slow down!" Rick yelled, catching Krista and Jonathan's attention

Evelyn ignored him as she raced up the ramp towards the gate. She was trying desperately hard to impress O'Connell.

"Slow down, Evelyn! Slow down! There's a really big…" Evelyn suddenly went ass-over-teacups through the air and crash landed in a sand dune. She sat up, stunned, and completely embarrassed, sandy hair in her eyes.

Rick stopped at the edge of the ramp next to her camel. "Never mind." He chuckled

The Americans rode up and looked around in wonder at the ruins inside the volcano. Rick gave them a big, shit-eating grin, "You boys owe me five hundred dollars." Henderson fished the money out of his pocket and tossed it over to Rick, just as Krista and Jonathan appear.

"See darling," Rick started, looking over at his wife, "You should have more faith in me."

Krista just laughed as she rode up to him and snatched the money out of his hand before trotting off with Rick chasing after her.


	7. Chapter 7

Hamunaptra 

The group had set up next to a narrow crevice, which weaved its way through the ruins. Rick was tying a rope around a pillar and threw the rest of the coils into the crevice, getting it ready to rappel down. Jonathan moved to bend over to have a look down, and while doing so his ass hit something, he yelped and backed away turning to face the object. It was the decrepit face of Anubis.

"That thing gives me the creeps." Jonathan commented

Rick chuckled, "Be nice. That thing saved my life."

Evy and Krista are moving about positioning the ancient mirrors along the crevice.

Krista smirked over at Rick, "That "thing" gets me excited"

Rick sent back a wink and replied sarcastically, "The things that get you excited."

Krista's grin grew, "Well you would know, wouldn't you?"

Jonathan gagged and pretended to throw up at their dirty talk.

"According to Bembridge Scholars, inside the statue of Anubis was a secret compartment, perhaps containing The Book of the Living." Evy said, trying desperately to tune out the conversation her baby sister and her husband were having.

Rick walked over to Krista, "What are these mirrors for?"

"Ancient Egyptian trick. You'll see." She responded with an excited grin

"Ah" he nodded, before pulling something out of his pack, "Here this is for you." Krista looked up confused but takes the bundle from him, "I know you lost yours on the boat. I borrowed this from our American brethren. I know you're going to need it."

Krista opened the bundle to find a large selection of archeological field tools, "Oh Rick." She wrapped the bundle back up and threw her arms around her husband, "What ever would I do without you?"

Rick grinned down at her, "Well luckily you'll never have to find out."

She leaned up on her toes and gave her husband a kiss, when suddenly they were interrupted, "Come on you two, we got work to do. You can snog each other later." Jonathan called out to them.

Once everyone is safely on the ground they all moved around examining the dark room they now found themselves in. Rick waved a torch around trying to get a good look at the dark room they all found themselves in.

"Hey look out for bugs, I hate bugs." The warden demanded

Krista frowned at the man, "I'm sure the feeling is mutual."

The warden glared at her and opened his mouth to reply, only to shut it quickly when Rick walked up behind her and glared at him while scratching his head with the tip of his gun.

"Do you realize, we are standing inside a room that no one has entered in over four thousand years?" Evy remarked breathlessly

"It's an amazing feeling, isn't it?" Krista smiled at her older sister's mystified face.

Evy sent back a distracted nod as she continued to look about the room.

"Who cares?" The warden interrupted, "I don't see no treasure."

"You're welcome to my share of the spider webs." Rick replied snidely to the dirty man.

"And it stinks to high heaven in here." Jonathan replied childishly as he sniffed the foul air, "What is that god awful stench?"

Krista cleared her throat, getting her brother's attention, and pointed over to the warden.

Jonathan discreetly sniffed at the little man. "Ah."

Krista let out a little chuckle before walking over to the other side of the room. She began brushing cobwebs away from a metal disk on the wall, then repositions it on it's pedestal, aiming it at a ray of light shining in from the outer mirrors. The ray of light hit the disk and began shooting around the room from one disk to another until the whole room was lit up.

"Hey," Rick grinned, "That is a neat trick."

"Oh my god, Krista, it's a Sah-Netjer." Evy exclaimed happily

"A what?" Rick questioned as he began looking around.

Krista grinned as she walked back over to Rick, "It's a preparation room."

"Preparation for what?" Rick asked curiously not having seen Krista coming up behind him.

Krista leaned forward and whispered in Rick's ear "For entering the afterlife."

Rick jumped, startled, and quickly drew his gun causing both girls to laugh.

"Krista don't do that, I could have shot you, damn!" Rick exclaimed only causing the two girls to laugh harder.

Jonathan gently clapped him on the shoulder and grinned, "Mummies, my good son, this is where they made the mummies."

Evelyn and Krista began heading down a narrow passageway with the others quickly following behind.

"Say," Rick started looking over to Jonathan, "did you know she was gonna do that?"

"Yep."

Rick reached out and slapped his brother-in-law on the back of the head before following the two girls out of the room.

Rick had ordered that he go first, should anything happen and with that the group began walking further and further down the tunnel.

Until they heard a scuttle sound above their heads, Rick quickly grabbed his gun and reached out for Krista.

"What was that?" Jonathan asked nervously as he looked around.

Rick smirked down at Krista, "Sounds like… bugs."

Krista grinned back and turned her head, "He said bugs." She spoke to the others.

"What do you mean bugs? I hate bugs!" The warden exclaimed in fright much to everyone's amusement.

They slowly round the corner out of the labyrinth and up to the foot of an enormous half-buried statue. The lower half of the statue of Anubis.

Evy gasped, "The legs of Anubis, the secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here."

They began to hear noises coming closer to them, from the other side of the statue. They began getting closer and closer. Rick reached out and pulled Krista behind him as he drew his gun, prompting everyone else except Evy to also withdraw their guns, and leapt out from behind the statue only to be met with the Americans, whose guns also happen to be raised and pointed at them.

Rick relaxed a bit but didn't lower his gun or let Krista move from behind him.

"Ya scared the bejeezus out of us, O'Connell." One of the American's, Henderson, stated.

"Likewise." Rick grinned at them as everyone began lowering their gun.

"Hey, that's my tool kit!" Burns exclaimed as he noticed the satchel tied to Krista's waist and moved forward to grab it.

Rick responded by raising his gun once again, "No, I don't think it is." His actions causing everyone else to raise their own weapons

Burns immediately backed off, "Alright, perhaps I was mistaken." And once again the guns were lowered.

"Yes, perhaps you were," Krista stated with a sarcastic smile until she noticed the other two Americans stared at her with smirks on their faces.

"Well have a nice day gentlemen, we have a lot of work to be getting along with." Evy spoke up trying to get the Americans to move along.

"Push off, this is our dig sight." The professor sneered at Evy and immediately found a gun pointed at him as Krista responded.

"Be careful how you speak to my sister." Krista glared at the snobbish man, "Besides, we got here first."

Her response to the professor's hostility had every gun raised once more. Daniels grinned at the group and sent Krista a wink, "This here is our statue, friend."

"Don't see your name on it, pal" Rick spat back sarcastically, pushing Krista farther behind him.

"There's only five of you and fifteen of me, your odds are not looking so good, O'Connell." Ben replied smugly as he hid in the back of the group.

From the corner of her eye, Krista noticed Evy kicking around some stones and watched them fall through a crack in the ground. The two sisters shared a look of realization. There was another room below them.

"I've had worse" Rick answered the little man, his gun never once wavering

Jonathan clenches his own gin tightly, "Yes, me too." Nodded in affirmation at Rick's skeptical look.

Suddenly Krista walked forward, "Oh for goodness sakes," she said before gently taking Rick's gun hand and lowering it.

"Let's be nice, children, if we're going to play together, we must learn to share." Evy spoke up as she looked around the room.

Krista gave Rick a meaningful look, "There are other places to dig, darling." She gave a gentle pull on his arm and was finally able to pull Rick away with the others following behind.

* * *

IMHOTEPIS CHAMBER

"So, according to these hieroglyphics we're underneath the statue. We'll come up right between his legs." Krista stated as she rubbed her bump and watched Rick and Jonathan beat against the ceiling with sledge-hammers. Evelyn is gently chipping away with a tiny chisel. Rick wouldn't let Krista do any manual labor. She was strictly in charge of translating and dishing out tools.

Evy let out a small giggle at what her sister had said but continued with her work.

"And when those dirty Yanks go to sleep… no offence." Jonathan said as he continued to be at the roof.

"None taken." Rick grunted back too focused on the task at hand to be worried about being insulted.

"We'll sneak up and steal that book right out from under them." Jonathan finished as he got a greedy glint in his eyes.

 _"_ _Kridasha."_ Krista heard a voice whisper behind her, but when she turned around no one was there.

"And you're sure you can find the secret compartment?" Rick questioned the sisters.

"Yes, if their Egyptologist hasn't already found it." Evy answer for the both of them.

Jonathan looks around, "I say, what's our smelly little friend got himself up to?"

Krista shrugged, "Who knows, but I'm not complaining. He took that foul smell and my nausea along with him."

* * *

After about an hour of hammering Jonathan had lost all interest and was currently playing his own version of gold with on of the hammers and some pebbles. Rick was taking a short break with Krista sitting in his lap. His hand splayed over her belly, while she and Evy were talking.

"Hold up," Rick stopped the girls, "Let me get this straight, they ripped your guts out and stuffed them into jars?" he questioned, disgust written all over his face.

"And they'd take out your heart as well. Do you want to know how they took out the brain?" Evy asked him excitedly.

Krista grinned down at her husband, "It is quite gruesome."

Jonathan interrupted them, "Evy, Krissy, I don't think the man needs to hear this, hell I don't want to hear it either."

"They took a sharp red hot poker, stuck it up your nose, scrambled things about a bit and then ripped it all out." Krista informed him all while miming the motions with a chisel she was holding.

Rick reached out and grabbed the chisel from his wife's hands, "That's got to hurt." He murmured.

"Well its called mummification, you'll be dead when they do it." Evy replied smartly.

"Still," Rick replied, "For the record, if I don't make it out of here, don't put me down for mummification."

"Likewise," Jonathan agreed with his brother-in-law as he hit another rock with the hammer. The Rock he had hit bounced around the ceiling and suddenly a huge box fell from the ceiling and landed inches away from where Rick and Krista were sitting. Dust and debris covered the group and Krista stared at the box, frightened, one hand resting securely over her belly, while the other was gripping Rick's.

"Oh my God, it's a sarcophagus, buried at the base of Anubis." Evy exclaimed, "He must have been someone of great importance."

Krista grimaced as she finally stood to her feet and approached the box with Rick not too far behind her, "Or he did something very naughty."

They all began dusting the sarcophagus off, "Who is it?" Jonathan asked excitedly.

Krista leaned forward and tried to read the inscription, "He that shall not be named." She answered warily; she had a very bad feeling about all of this.

After a bit more dusting they were able to take a closer look. Rick leaned down and pointed something out, "This looks like some sort of lock." He looked up at Krista, "What is this thing made of?"

Krista studied the sarcophagus for a moment before answering, "Quarried granite with I believe a cobalt lining."

"Well whoever was in here sure wasn't getting out." Jonathan joked but the atmosphere was too tense for anyone to laugh.

"No kidding, "Rick murmured, "Without a key, it'll take us a month to crack this thing."

"A key?" Evy said distractedly before letting out a gasp, "A key! Now that's what he was talking about." She exclaimed.

Rick looked at Krista in confusion, but she had no idea what her sister was talking about either, "Who was talking about what?" Rick asked

Evelyn started rummaging through the pack on Jonathan's back, "The man on the barge. The one with the hook, he was looking for a key." She informed them as she pulled out box.

Jonathan tried to take it back, "Hey that's mine!" he exclaimed childishly.

Krista smacked his hand away from Evy, "No it's not. You stole it from Rick, remember."

Jonathan just pouted at her while Evy opened the box, matching its shape to the key hole on the sarcophagus. She was just reaching down to place the key in the hole when they all began to hear screaming.

Everyone turned to face the other side of the room where the noise was originating from. Rick pulled out his gun and everyone ran out of the room only to see the warden running down the hall. He continued screaming as he held his head in his hands. He took off running in their direction and Rick immediately drew Krista close to him, but the warden ran past them and into a wall, before dropping to the ground, dead.


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you suppose killed him?" Evy questioned later that night as the three siblings sat around the camp fire, Rick having gone over to the American's camp to inform them of the warden's death.

Jonathan snorted, "Did you ever see him eat?"

Krista reached over and smacked her brother on the back of the head, "Have a little respect." But she was smirking as she did so.

"Seems the Americans had a little misadventure of their own today, three of their diggers were killed." Rick said as he re-joined the group and moved to sit next to Krista, pulling her closer to him.

"How?" Krista questioned looking up at her husband.

"Salt acid. Pressurized salt acid. Some sort of ancient booby-trap." He replied

Jonathan began looking around nervously "Maybe this place really is cursed."

A gust of wind blew through the camp making the fire flicker and go out, only for it to light right back up on its own. Rick and Jonathan shared a nervous look while Evy just laughed it off, but Krista's bad feeling about this place had intensified ten fold.

"Oh you three." Evy scoffed with a laugh

Rick frowned over at her, "You don't believe in curses, huh?"

Evy scoffed again and shook her head "No. I believe if I can see it and I can touch it, then it's real. That's what I believe."

Rick chucked and cocked his rifle and winked down at his wife, "Well I believe in being prepared."

Jonathan trying to lighten the mood, spoke up, "Let's see what our friend the warden believed in." he then racked out and grabbed the dead man's bag and started riffling through it.

"Jonathan." Krista groaned in exasperation and Rick chuckled at her annoyed face, leaning forward to lightly peck her cheek.

Jonathan continued digging through the pack, choosing to ignore his baby sister's scolding. Halfway through his search, Jonathan let out a scream of pain making everyone jump back and causing his two sisters to let out smalls screams themselves.

"WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?!" Evy cried in fright

Jonathan pulled his hand out of the bag and pulled out a bottle of some sort of alcohol, "Broken bottle got me. Its Glenlivet, twelve years old. Well he might have been a stinky fellow but he had good taste." He stated as he pulled out the cork and took a drink making the other three laugh at him.

Suddenly the sound of horses neighing and hooves beating the ground started to surround the camp, and then a barrage of gunfire was heard coming from the American camp. Rick jumped up and handed his gun to Krista before pulling another one out for him.

"Stay here! All of you." He sent a pointed look to his wife before taking off to the other side of the ruins. Evy, completely ignoring his warning, grabbed the gun he handed her sister and immediately got up and ran after him.

Jonathan grabbed a gun, and holding tightly to the bottle dashed after her, "Evy! Excuse me! But didn't the man just say 'stay here'!"

Having been abandoned by both her siblings, Krista stayed sitting before the fire and watching the chaos around her continue. She wanted to get up and help fight, but she cared more for the safety of her baby.

One of their attackers ran past her, chasing after one of the Americans, and Krista immediacy recognized his clothing. It was the same as the man that had attacked them on the boat.

Krista had all but decided to remain where she was and wait for the fighting to stop, until she looked up and noticed one of the black robed men running at her with his sword raised. She hated her sister very much right now for taking the gun Rick had handed her.

Krista jumped up and began running away from the man further into the fight, trying to find Rick. She finally found him facing off with another one of the robed men. He had just lit a stick of dynamite and was holding it out as his weapon.

Krista looked back to see of the man was still chasing her, and to her surprise, he was closer than she thought. She tried to pick up and pit of speed, "Rick!"

Both Rick and his opponent turned at the sound of her voice and their eyes widened when they saw the man behind her.

"Hey, get the hell away from my wife!" Rick shouted at the man.

"Enough!" the man standing next to Rick shouted, causing all the other black robed men to stop what they were doing. Krista finally reached Rick and he immediately pulled her close to him.

The man turned back to face Rick and Krista, staring at her for a bit longer than necessary, "We will shed no more blood, but you most leave this place or die. You have one more day."

The man lifted himself onto his horse and rode away, the other men following behind their leader. They rode out of the city and disappeared into the night.

Rick put out the stick of dynamite and turned to face Krista, one hand cupping her cheek, and the other came to rest on her belly, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Krista shook her head, "No I'm fine, he didn't touch me."

"Where's the damn gun I gave you? Why didn't you shoot him?" Rick exclaimed, he knew he shouldn't shout at her, that it wasn't Krista's fault but he had been so scared that he was going to lose her when he saw her running when that man chasing her.

Krista frowned up at him, "Evy took my gun and chased after you."

Across from them, they could see Jonathan helping Evy stand to her fee from where she had been knocked over.

"See! That proves it! Old Seti's fortune has gotta be under this sand!" The dark headed American, Daniels, exclaimed excitedly.

"For them to protect it like this, you just know there's got to be treasure down there." Henderson agreed with his friend as the two shared a knowing look.

Rick looked up into the surrounding ridges, and shook his head, "These men are a desert people they value water, not gold." He replied as he held tightly to Krista not prepared to release her just yet.

Burns suddenly stepped forward with half his face covered in shaving cream, "You know, uh, maybe just at night we should combine forces." He suggested to everyone only to receive a camp wide death glare.

* * *

Later than night after everything had settled down, Jonathan and Evy decided it would be a good idea to get very drunk together. Jonathan had already passed out but Evy was still awake and had, in her drunken haze, demanded that Rick teach her how to punch someone.

"Okay now ball up your first, and put it up like this. Now, mean it." Rick was trying to instruct her but Evy was a bit too drunk to take the lesson seriously.

"I mean it." Evy stated as she leapt forward only to loose her balance and fall, landing on top of Rick.

"Okay," Rick grinned as he helped her sit down, before moving to sit beside Krista, "time for another drink."

Evy scoffed, "Unlike my brother, Sir. Or my sister for that matter." She commented motioning to Krista's belly, "I know when to say no." But she reached out for the bottle anyway and took a long swig of it.

Krista smirked over at Rick and mouthed to him, "Three… two… one." Evy fell over on top of Jonathan and joined him in slumber.

The two of them began laughing at Krista's siblings.

Rick threw his arm around his wife's waist, "Oh I've missed you."

Krista smiled softly up at him, "I missed you too. Promise me, when we get home. No more bar fights and nights in jail."

Rick nodded his head, "I promise no more, we've got bigger things to worry about now." He said giving her belly a small rub. "So," Rick started, "What exactly are you doing here?"

Krista turned and looked up at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Rick sent her a smirk, "I mean you knew this trip could be dangerous, especially in your condition. So why did you come?"

She grinned back, "You know me, darling. I'm an adventure seeker. I couldn't pass up the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Well if opportunities of a lifetime interest you, then I've got an idea I think you're just going to love." Rick sent her a wink and pulled her up, leading her into their tent.

Krista smiled seductively back at him, "I like the way you think, love."


	9. Chapter 9

Rick had Jonathan help him lift the wooden coffin out of the stone sarcophagus and prop it up against a wall, while the sister's stood back and supervised.

"Oh, I've dreamed of this ever since I was a little girl." Evy informed them excitedly.

Rick gave her a quizzical look, "You dream about dead guys?"

Evy blushed but waived him off and continued studying the coffin.

"I remember my first mummy. It was one of the most exciting days of my life." Krista inputted as she reminisced.

Everyone moved forward and began dusting the coffin off, "Look, Krista," Evy motioned her little sister over, "All the sacred spells have been chiseled off."

"Hmm, your right; and the hieratics and hieroglyphs that protect the deceased on his journey into the afterlife, they've been removed." Krista stated, in shock, "This man was cursed…"

 _"Kridasha!"_ the same voice from the day before hissed in her ear, and Krista frowned when no one else seemed to hear the voice.

Rick frowned, "Tough break."

"Yes, I'm all tears; now let's see whose inside, shall we?" Jonathan grinned excitedly

Krista frowned at her brother's lack of respect but didn't protest as he began inserting the key. He turned it and the lid cracked open with a hiss and this awful stench began to fill the room. Krista began to gag and had to take a few large steps back.

Rick frowned worriedly over at her but when she waved him off he turned back to the job at hand and began trying to pry the lid off, but it wouldn't budge. Jonathan moved to help and the lid finally started to give way… only for the lid to fly off and the rotting mummy inside lunged out and frightened the entire room.

All four gave a scream and jumped away in fright, for Krista, who was already standing apart from the group, this meant she was nearing the other side of the room. The men began chuckling once the shock wore off and Evy let out a huff, "I hate when these things do that."

But Krista was still frightened, there was something about this whole thing that seemed a bit too familiar to her and now seeing the mummy, she suddenly had this feeling of dread coursing through her.

"Is he supposed to look like that?" Rick asked as he turned to look at his wife, only to shoot her a worried look at her frightened face.

Krista shook her feeling off and began moving closer to the group, "No, I've never seen a mummy look like this. He's still…" Krista trailed off, trying to fine the right word to describe what she was looking at.

"Juicy." Rick and Jonathan both answered for her in sync.

Krista nodded distractedly, "He had to be over three-thousand years old and he looks as though he's still decomposing."

Rick looked away only to see the coffin lid, "Hey girls, what do the two of you make of this?"

The group moved over to look at the lid, and Krista bent down to run her fingers over the marks. She let out a gasp, "These marks were made with fingernails. This man was buried alive."

Evy bent down to study them, "And he left a message… 'Death is only the beginning.'"

Krista felt a shiver run through her at those words. She had a very bad feeling about this expedition.

* * *

As soon as she go the chance Krista left the chamber and went back to the camp site with Rick and Jonathan while Evy stayed behind to study the mummy some more, Everyone was quite shocked that Krista hadn't elected to stay behind as well.

Krista was sitting around the campfire snuggled up to Rick, with the little man, Beni, sitting on his other side. The Americans walked over and sat on the other side of the fire, holding some canopic jars, though one is shattered.

"Say O'Connell," Henderson called, "What do you think these honey's will fetch back home?"

"We hear you all found yourselves a nice gooey mummy, congratulations." Burns commented snidely.

"You know, "Daniels joined in, "If you dry him out, you can sell him for firewood."

Krista snickered at the sight of what the three men were holding.

Daniels looked over at her and smirked, "What's so funny, beautiful?"

"You lot do know what it is your holding, right?" She asked them, placing a comforting hand on Rick's leg at the feel of him tensing up.

The Americans looked at their jars and then up at one another, before turning to look at her in confusion, even Rick looked slightly interested having no idea as to what the jars were either.

"They are called canopic jars and the Egyptians used them during the mummification process, hmm let's see," she pointed at Henderson, "Intestines," then at Burns, "Liver," and once more at Daniels, "Stomach."

The Americans looked slightly squeamish now that they new what they were holding.

Krista spoke up once more, "And if I were you, I'd bee looking for your own gooey mummy that those belong too. If you don't have the body they belong too, those jars aren't going to bring in very much."

At those words the America's egos deflated a bit.

Rick grinned down at his clever girl and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Evy finally made an appearance and promptly shoved Beni out of the way so she could sit beside Rick, "Look what I found inside our friend's coffin."

Krista reached around and picked once up out of her sister's hand, "Scarab beetle skeletons?" she questions, surprised.

Rick looked down at the thing in confusion, "What?"

"They're flesh eater." Krista clarified for her husband and he nodded in understanding, "They can stay alive for years by feasting on the flesh of a corpse."

Evy nodded, "Unfortunately for our friend, he was still alive when they started eating him."

Rick, along with the rest of the group around the fire grimaced, "So somebody threw these in with our guy and they slowly ate him alive?" he asked as he lifted the bug out of Krista's hands.

Krista nodded, "Very slowly, probably."

"Well, he certainly wasn't a popular fellow when they planted him, was he?" Jonathan said as he studied that scarab that he had grabbed.

Rick snickered, "Must have got a little too frisky with the Pharaoh's daughter." He said with a cheeky smile.

Krista frowned thoughtfully, "Or his mistress, or possibly even killed the Pharaoh."

Evy butted in, "According to my readings, our friend suffered the HOM-DAI, the worst of all ancient Egyptian curses, one reserved for only the most evil blasphemers. In all of my research, I've never read of this curse actually having been performed."

Krista looked up, "Neither have I."

"That bad huh?" Rick questioned

Krista nodded, "Yes, they never used it because they feared it so. It's written, that if a victim of the HOM-DAI should ever arise, he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt."

"The ten plagues? ... You mean all ten plagues."

"Like what that Moses guy did to that Pharaoh guy?" Beni asked nervously.

Evy chuckled; she wasn't taking any of it seriously at all, "That's one way of putting it."

"Let's see, there were frogs, flies, locusts..." Jonathan started to list them off.

"Hail and fire." Burns added.

"The sun turning black." Henderson continued.

"Water turning to blood." Daniels followed behind that.

"And my personal favorite: people covered in boils and sores." Jonathan finished.

All the men share nervous looks, really spooked. Evelyn just laughed at them, and waived it all off. Krista, however, her worry about this trip was continuing to grow with every minute they stayed there.

* * *

Not too long after their discussion Krista excused herself for bed. She was woken up a few hours later by the feel of a hand rubbing against her baby bump. Krista, thinking it was Rick coming to join her for bed, gave a tired smile and without opening her eyes began to drift off again.

Until she heard, " _Kridasha, come to me."_ The same voice from the burial chamber hissed in her ear again only this time it sounded as if he owner of the voice was hovering above her, so close Krista could feel their breath as they spoke to her.

She jumped up, but looking around the tent, there was no one there. Krista looked down and saw they her shirt had been pulled up to just under her breast and her belly completely uncover.

Then she saw it, right in the center over her belly was sand residue, in the shape of a hand print. Krista brushed it off quickly and pulled her shirt down before exiting the tent and going to find her husband. She wanted to leave this place now.

As soon as Krista stepped out of her tent, an unearthly scream echoed from underground and she heard someone shouting.

"No! You Must not Read from the Book!" Krista looked over and found Evy and Rick sitting next to each other and a rather large book sitting in her sister's lap.

She walked over to them, "What the bloody hell is going on?" Suddenly a rumbling noise from the distance was heard as everyone began waking up. The noise got louder and a cloud of black started making its way towards Hamunaptra, and it was coming fast.

Rick jumped up, grabbed Krista's hand and took off, "Run!" he shouted as thousands of locusts entered the city and started swarming over everyone.


	10. Chapter 10

They had made it safely inside and were roaming around the tunnels of Hamunaptra. Rick had a firm grip on Krista's hand and led the way with his gun in the other one.

"Did you see that!?" Jonathan shouted hysterically, "Grasshoppers! Billions of grasshoppers!"

"That's one of the plagues, right? The grasshopper plague!" Rick questioned looking down at hid wife's terrified face.

Evy scoffed, "This is not a plague. It's generational. Every so many years the locusts of Egypt have a population explosion and they all take flight."

Krista looked over at her elder sister angrily, "Oh Evelyn would you shut up!" she cried, "You were the one that just had to read from that damn sacred book and now we all have to pay for your idiotic actions!" Rick comforted her by wrapping his arm around her and bringing Krista closer to his side.

Evy frowned and was about to tell her off when a sudden loud crash had them all stumble as the ground began to shake and a large sand mound started to grow, then dozens of scarabs began scurrying out.

"Scarabs" Evy and Krista cry out as they once again began to run. Rick let go of Krista's hand and started shooting at them. Once he saw that it wasn't doing much good, he threw his torch.

"Run, Go!" he yelled as he continued shooting at the scarabs. They race up a staircase just ahead of the mass of scarabs.

Rick leapt out onto a pedestal with Jonathan right behind him. Krista, who couldn't make the jump slipped into a grotto on the other side of the narrow stairway and Evy followed her lead. The horrible herd of vicious scarabs scurried between them. Evy leaned back and let out a sigh once the beetles were out of sight. Unfortunately, when she moved, Evy opened a trap door and the wall shifted and opened, moving the two girls into a different room.

Rick and Jonathan watch the scarabs vanish up the staircase, when they turned to look across the way Krista and Evelyn were gone.

"EVY!? KRISSY!?" Jonathan called out in confusion

Evy sat up and moved to help Krista up as well, "Are you alright, Krissy?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Where are we?" Krista asked at they fearfully began looking around.

Evy frowned, "I'm not sure, come one let's see if we can find the others."

They started to feel their way along the dark walls until they rounded the corner and enter a room where the moonlight was shining through the cracks in the ceiling. There was a man standing in the middle of the room with his back turned to the girls, but they still recognize him.

"Mr. Burns." Krista said in relief.

"Thank goodness we found you," Evy spoke up, "We were just starting to get scared."

Krista nodded as she moved closer to the man, "We lost everyone…"

She trailed off as Burns turned to face to the two girls and Krista had to swallow her scream at the sight that was before her. Burn's eyes were missing and he stared at them with empty sockets.

"My eyes, he took my eyes!" Burns' muffled cries of pain were enough to alert the girls that his tongue had also been taken.

Krista backed away in fright, her voice completely leaving her at the sight, while Evelyn screamed in horror and scrambled away, beginning to hyperventilate, she bumped into something causing her to scream again and spin around coming face to face with the mummy, with two fresh eyeballs in his once empty sockets.

Evy screamed again and backed into a wall. The mummy moved towards her, not having noticed Krista on the other side of the room who was trying to stay as quite as possible so as not to attract the mummy's attention.

The mummy moved closer to Evy and bent down to look at her, _"Anck-su-namun."_ It wasn't a question, more like a declaration, while Evy just let out a whimper.

Burns let out another moan of pain and reached out for Krista, "Please, help me." And though he tried to be quiet the mummy still heard him and turned to look at where Burns was.

Krista watched fearfully as the mummy's eyes looked from Burn's gripping tightly to her leg on the ground and up to Krista's face. His eyes seemed to widen at the sight of her, and he completely disregarded Evy in exchange for Krista, making his way over to her.

The mummy grabbed the wrist that Burns was using to hold on to her and yanked it away, tossing the man across the room. Krista let out a small squeak of fear as the mummy brought his attention back to her and moved his face closer to hers.

 _"_ _Kridasha."_ He whispered looking at her as though he was in awe at the sight of her.

Krista frowned, that was the name she had been hearing calling out to her this whole trip.

 _"_ _My princess, my love. You have returned to me."_ The mummy began looking around the room before facing her again, _"Where is Abraxes?"_

Krista sent him a look of confusion, who is Abraxes? She was terrified that this mummy was going to kill her and she would never see her husband again or live to see her baby. At the thought of her unborn child, Krista's hand came to rest against the swell of her belly.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by the mummy and he stared down at her hand, his eye lighting up as his own mummified hand reached out for her stomach, _"Abraxes"_ he whispered almost reverently.

 _"_ _The gods have granted us a gift,"_ he stated looking back up at Krista, " _This time will be different, my Dasha. We will not be separated again. I will not let it happen."_

Krista was confused; the mummy seemed to think she was someone else. Thankfully at that moment Rick came running into the room and saw Evy huddle against the wall fearfully, "There you are! Come one lets get out of here. Where's Kris?"

Evy shakily raised her hand and pointed across the room where Krista was standing with the mummy.

Rick turned around and jumped in fright, "Whoa!" then he noticed that he mummy was standing very close to his wife and cradling her belly, "Hey! Get the hell away from my wife!" The mummy turned at glared heatedly at the man that had interrupted him.

"Krissy! Evy!" Jonathan cried as he ran into the room, only to stop at the sight of the mummy facing them, "Whoa!"

The mummy began moving closer to them, leaving Krista backed against the wall, and unhinged his skeletal jaw, his skinless mouth stretched to an inhuman size as he let out a horrific, primordial SHRIEK.

Evy cried in fright and ran over to Jonathan. Rick shudders, and then he opened his own mouth and roared right back at him, "Ahhhhhhhh!"Then he shot him with his elephant gun knocking the mummy halfway across the room and blowing half his side off.

Rick ran forward and grabbed Krista's hand, pulling her out of the room with the rest of them following behind.

* * *

What was left of the group finally made it outside only to be met with the men in black from the day before pointing their guns at them, making everyone stop in their tracks and raise their hands in the air.

The chief stepped forward and pulled the cloth away from his face, "I told you to leave or die, you refused, and now you may have killed us all. You have unleashed the creature that we have feared for more than four thousand years."

"Relax, I got him." Rick told the man, holding Krista close to him.

"No mortal weapons can kill this creature. He is not of this world." The chief informed the group as he motioned for two of his guards to bring something forward. It was Burns. At the sight of the pitiful man, Krista felt tears come to her eyes.

The two men brought him forward and handed him off to Henderson and Daniels, "You bastards!" Daniels spit out.

"What did you do to him?" Henderson demanded.

Krista shook her head, "They didn't do it. The mummy did it to him." She informed everyone sadly as she turned her face into Rick's chest and wrapped her arms around him tightly as tears began to leek from her eyes. Rick returned her embrace and held her tightly to him.

The chief nodded his head in agreement, "We saved him before the creature could finish his work. Leave, all of you, quickly, before he comes to finish you all. We must now go on a hunt and try to find a way to kill him."

Rick huffed, "I already told you, I got him." He insisted.

The chief stopped and looked back, deadly serious, "Know this, the creature will be coming for you. He must consummate the curse. And until he does, he will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop." Then he turned to look down at Krista, "And if I were you, I'd keep a close eye on this one. The creature will do anything to get his hands on her."

And with that he and his men began to leave.


	11. Chapter 11

It took them nearly three days to get back to Cairo and everyone had decided to stay together at a local hotel. Krista and Rick had gone home to pack a few things before heading over to the hotel with the rest of the group.

While Rick had gone down to the bar, Krista had stayed behind in the room to have a shower and change clothes.

The past few days had been very exhausting and all Krista wanted to get clean and take a nice long nap. Unfortunately that did seem to be an option. As soon as she exited the bathroom and began getting dressed, Krista heard a commotions coming from the adjoining room to theirs, Evy's room.

Quickly slipping on some clothes, Krista made her way to the door connecting the two rooms and opened it only to see her husband and Evy having some kind of argument. Evy's suitcase was lying open on the bed and half on her clothes were thrown in it.

"No we are not. We woke him up, and we must try and stop him." Krista heard Evy shout at Rick as she entered the room.

"We?! What we?! I didn't read that book; Kris and Jonathan didn't read the book. I told you not to play around with that thing." Rick yelled right back at her as he finally stopped trying to pack her things, since she kept taking them back out.

Evy groaned in frustration, "Alright then, Me, I, ...I read the book, I woke him up and I intend to stop him. I'm sure Krista agrees with me." She motioned over to her sister.

Krista opened her mouth to respond but was cut off, "How!? You heard the man; no mortal weapons can kill this guy. And leave your sister out of this."

Evelyn grabbed the bra the Rick was twisting around and threw it into a drawer, "Then we'll have to find some immortal ones; and Krista has every right to be a part of this conversation, it affects her too."

Rick threw his hands up, "There goes that 'we' again. Not me, and not Kris, we are outta here!"

Rick stuffed a pile of Evy's shoes into the trunk, only for Evy to kick the lid shut, slamming it on his fingers. Rick yelped and angrily stormed around the room towards Krista as he sucked on his throbbing fingers.

"According to that Book, once this creature has been reborn, his curse will spread, and as he grows in strength, so will his curse grow, infecting the people until the whole of the earth is destroyed." Evy informed him as she chased after him.

Rick groaned, "Yeah? So? Is that my problem?"

"It's everybody's problem!" Evy shouted incredulously

Rick glanced at Krista, then down at her growing belly before finally sighing as he looked over at his sister-in-law "Look Evy, I appreciate you saving my life and all, but when I signed on, I agreed to take you out there and bring you back, and I did, now were even, end of job, end of story, contract terminated."

"That's what I am to you? A contract?" She questioned bitterly

"Look me and Kris, we've got a baby on the way, I can't stay here and put her in jeopardy because of a dumb decision you made. Now, you can either tag along with us, or you can stay here and play around with Mister Maggot."

Evy turned to look at her baby sister, "Krissy? Please?" she begged

Krista sighed sadly, "I really want to stay and help Evy, you know I do, but Rick is right. We have to put the safety of our child first. I'm sorry."

Evy glared at her sister, then at Rick, "I'm staying."

Rick sighed and nodded his head, "Fine." He grabbed Krista's hand and pulled her back into their adjoining room and closed the door behind him.

Rick sighed as he moved into the room and pulled out their suitcases to sit them by the door, "I don't know how you put up with your sister."

Krista chuckled at him as she moved to wrap her arms around him and lay her head on his back, "Yes, she can be a bit infuriating. You know I think she has a bit of a crush on you."

Rick snorted as he turned to wrap his own arms around his wife, "Well she's just gonna have to deal with it, cause I'm already taken."

"Mhmm, Indeed you are, love." Krista smirked as she reached up for a kiss, "I'm glad you understand, for a moment I thought I was going to have to remind you that you are a married man." She sighed wistfully and moved out of his arms and closer to the bed, "But since you seem to remember that fact just fine on you own, there will be no need for me to remind you… pity."

Rick smirked at his wife as she turned to look at him, "Oh I don't know, it never hurts to be reminded," he said as he stalked closer to Krista.

* * *

Later on Rick had left Krista to have a drink at the bar, while she joined Evy in her reading. She figured since they couldn't leave till tomorrow, she could at least help as much as possible while she was here.

At the moment the two girls were walking down the hallway back to Evy's room when they heard shouting, "Kris! Evy!"

The girls turned to look at him expectantly, "We got a problem." Just then, a crackle of thunder hit and lightning shot across the sky. It started raining and fiery meteorites started falling from the sky.

Rick grabbed Krista's hand the three of them ran for cover; they turned to go up a flight of stairs but ran into Beni who was coming down them at the same time.

"Beni, you little stinkweed; where you been?" Rick asked as he shoved the little man against the wall.

Before the little man could answer there was a loud inhuman roar the came from the upstairs. Rick pulled out his gun and released Beni, who quickly took off, and the three of them ran up the stairs to find where the noise came from.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, they heard the noise once more, leading them Mr. Burns' door. Rick threw the door open and the three of the rush in only to skid to a stop as they spot Burns, or what's left of him, lying dead on in the chair, his body is shriveled to half its size, and drained of all organs and liquids. Krista and Evy let out horrified gasps at the sight.

Then they hear a loud moan and they notice the mummy standing on the far side of the room. A thick skin began to form over powerful new musculature. His tendons rippled, and his bones started to bulge and reform. The mummy's mouth opened to an inhuman size as he moaned in pain. The three of them stood their in stunned silence as they watched this happen.

"We are in serious trouble." Rick breathed out, his words catching the mummy's attention and at the sight of Krista and Evy, he began moving closer to the three. Once he did, Rick began shooting at the mummy. Bullets ripped through his body, but he didn't seem to mind.

Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels ran into the room, but stopped short at the sight that greeted them. Once Rick's ammo was out the mummy angrily turned, grabbed Rick and with no effort, and threw him across the room and into Jonathan and the others knocking them down.

Once the men were out of the way, the mummy turned his attention to the sisters He looked to Evy first. Evelyn backed away into a wall, terrified. He moved closer to her, " _You saved me from the undead. I thank you."_

He then turned and moved towards Krista, " _Kridasha my beloved. Please forgive me for my past sins. Let us move forward with our new lives. Anck-su-namun is in the past. I must fulfill my promise to return her to the living and then I shall remove her from our lives."_ The more he spoke, the closer he moved to Krista and by this point he had her pinned to the wall, " _All that I desire is to be with you and Abraxes, my love."_ He whispered as he leaned in, about to kiss her with his decayed face.

Right before his lips touched hers Evy's cat jumped onto the piano, and hissed at the mummy. He shrieked and the balcony doors blew open. The mummy spun into a blast of wind and sand and swirled out the doors disappearing into thin air.

Rick got to his feet and rushed over to Krista, checking her over to make sure she was unharmed, Jonathan doing the same to Evy, while the two Americans moved to look at their dead friend.

"We are in very serious trouble." Rick stated as he held Krista close to him.


	12. Chapter 12

The group of six made their way through the Museum of Antiquities, Krista having suggested they go to Dr. Bay for help. Everyone had agreed, hoping the man could shed some light on the situation at hand.

"There's only one person I know who can possibly give us some answers." Evy informed the group as they rounded the corner only to be faced with the Dr. Bay talking with Medjai chief causing everybody to stop.

"YOU!"

Rick and the American's quickly drew their guns, as Rick pushed Krista behind him. Ardeth Bay just scowled at the group.

Dr, Bay nodded his head in greeting, "Mrs. O'Connell, Miss Carnahan. Gentlemen. "What is he doing here?" Evy sneered pointing at the chief. Dr. Bay scoffed, "Do you truly wish to know, or would you prefer to just shoot us?" Everybody tense, then Rick holstered his gun with the rest of the men following his example, "After what I've just seen, I'm willing, to go on a little faith, here." Dr Bay led them into the exhibition room for Seti the first, and everyone moved to find a place to sit as Dr. Bay began to explain, "We are part of an ancient secret society, the cult of the Medjai, and we have a sacred mission, passed down through thirty-nine generations. For over four thousand years we have guarded The City of The Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world."

"And because of you, we have failed." The Ardeth interjected

"And you think this justifies killing innocent people!?" Evy asked absolutely appalled

"To have stopped this creature? Let me think…" Dr. Bay said sarcastically before both he and the warrior exclaimed, "Yes!"

Rick raised his hand in the air, "Question, Why doesn't he like cats?"

Krista spoke up, "According to the ancients, cats are the guardians at the gates of the underworld."

Dr. Bay nodded and smiled at the young girl, "Indeed, Imhotep will fear them until he is fully regenerated."

"And then he will fear nothing." The Medjai spoke again.

"Right! And ya know how he gets fully regenerated?!" Daniels exclaimed, panicked.

Henderson spoke up in calm resignation, "By killing everybody who opened that chest."

"And sucking us dry! That's how!" Daniels added his panic having increased.

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Krista looked up and saw Jonathan fiddling with some of the artifacts in Seti's chariot, "Jonathan! Stop playing with that before you break it." She scolded, scaring Jonathan and causing him to punch himself in the face when he moved to release the bow string.

"When I saw him alive at Hamunaptra, he called me Anck-Su-Namun." Evy interjected, "And in Mr. Burns' quarters he thanked me for saving him, and promised me immortality."

"It was because of his love for Anck-Su-Namun that he was cursed. Apparently after even 3,000 years…"

"…he is still in love with her." Ardeth finished.

"What has that go to do with me?" Evy asked

"Perhaps he will once again try to raise her from the dead." Ardeth commented

Dr. Bay nodded, "It is because it was you who read from the Book. He has chosen you to be the human sacrifice needed to regenerate the body of Anck-su-namun."

Jonathan sighed, "Bad luck, old mum."

"Wait, this can't be right." Evy scoffed, re-directing the attention back to her, "I'm not the one he tried to kiss earlier."

All eyes moved to Krista then and she let out a sigh, "He keeps calling me Kridasha and speaking about someone named Abraxes." She subconsciously placed a hand on her belly, "In Mr. Burns' quarters he apologized to me for something and then said that he was only bringing Anck-Su-Namun back to life to fulfill his promise then he would dismiss her from our lives."

"So," Dr. Bay said, "It seems that he is no longer in love with Anck-Su-Namun after all."

Rick spoke up, "Okay that's great, but who are Kridasha and Abraxes?"

The curator sighed, "Kridasha was the youngest daughter of Seti the first, she was greatly admired for her beauty and kindness, she was also the wife of Seti's high priest, Imhotep."

"What!?" Was questioned from the inhabitants around the room, and Rick's arms tightened around his wife protectively.

"But why would he choose me?" Krista questioned nervously.

Ardeth answered this time, "Because you greatly resemble the princess."

"So, Imhotep had a wife that looked exactly like Krista and still chose to cheat on her?" Rick questioned rhetorically, "What an idiot." He muttered and Krista reached up and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek for the compliment.

"So…" Jonathan started, "Who is Abraxes?"

"Abraxes was the only child of Princess Kridasha and Imhotep, born just days before Imhotep's death. It is said that during his sentencing, the only thing he pleaded for was to gaze upon his child just once before death and the Princess granted his plee." Dr, Bay informed the group.

A part of Krista couldn't help but feel sorry for the mummy, "So he awakens after 3,000 years to find not only his wife's look alike but she just so happens to be pregnant as well. That explains why he keeps referring to my belly as Abraxes. Fate sure is a funny thing."

"Well either way," Dr. Bay said, standing to his feet, "the fact that he needs Evelyn might just give us the time we need to kill the creature."

"We will need all the help we can get," Ardeth spoke up, "His powers are growing."

Everyone stood up as they watched the solar eclipse though the skylight and the room gradually became darker around them.

"And he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt." Jonathan quoted quietly.

* * *

Evy was pacing in the foyer of the hotel, "We must stop him from regenerating." She turned to face Daniels and Henderson, "Who opened that chest?"

"Well, there was me and Daniels here," Henderson listed, "and then poor Burns of course."

"Yeah, and that Egyptologist fella." Daniels added to the list.

O'Connell turns from the window he's standing beside with his arms firmly latched around Krista. He hadn't let her out of his sight since they returned, even going as far as following her to the bathroom, "What about my buddy, Beni?"

Daniels shook his head, "Naw, he scrammed outta there before we opened the damn thing."

"Yeah he was the smart one." Henderson agreed

Rick scoffed, "That sounds like Beni."

Krista sighed, "We must find the Egyptologist and bring him back here to the safety of the fort, before the creature can get to him." Evy nodded in agreement.

Rick looked down at his wife and smiled softly "Okay, Krista and Evy, you wait here," before turning to face the two Americans, "you two come with me."

Three of them interjected at once and began arguing with him.

"The hell with that! I'm not goin' nowhere! we're safe here."

"Yeah, I'm not leavin, this fort for nothin'."

"Who put you in charge? You can't just leave me behind like some old suitcase. I'm the one responsible for this mess and I intend to be the one to clean it up."

Krista just looked up at him pitifully, "Please don't leave me behind, love."

Rick just shook his head, and placed his hand on her belly, "You'll be safer here at the fort under lockdown than out there roaming the street with me."

Krista sighed but nodded her head in agreement. She reached up and placed a chaste kiss her husband's lips then moved to go into their room, shutting the door behind her.

Meanwhile the other three are still bickering at him; Rick just shook his head and sighed. He then shoved Evy into her bedroom, slammed the door and locked it. From inside her room they could hear Evelyn pounding on the door and yelling profanities at Rick.

O'Connell threw the key to Daniels, "These doors don't open. They don't come out and no one goes in. The doors don't open, right?"

"Right." Daniels repeated

"Right?" Rick quested again

"Right." Henderson mimicked

"Let's go Jonathan." Rick said as he began to walk out.

"Me? Well I thought I'd just… stay at the fort and…" Jonathan stuttered out

"Now!" Rick shouted not even looking back to see if the spineless man followed.

"Right." Jonathan nodded nervously and followed his brother-in-law out.


	13. Chapter 13

Once Imhotep had finished regenerating, he stepped over Henderson's shriveled body and up to Krista's door, and rattled the knob. It's locked. Imhotep grinned.

Krista passed out immediately upon laying down, the past few days finally catching up with her, and was asleep in her bed as sand began streaming in through the keyhole, pouring onto the floor, forming a large mound until finally the mound of sand has formed into Imhotep.

Imhotep walked over to the bed and leaned down towards Krista; he placed his hand over he belly and caressed it as he moved to kiss her in her sleep. The door starts to rattle as the men try to break it down. Imhotep ignored the noises and kissed her. Upon contact, his lips and mouth instantly start to degenerate and decay. Right down to the bone.

The door finally burst open just as Krista wakes up. She looked up, only to see Imhotep's face as he continues to try and kiss her. She screamed in shock and her body jerked to get away, causing her to accidentally knee him in the stomach. Imhotep's grimaced in pain and backed away staring at her in sadness.

Rick rushed into the room, "Get your ugly face off my wife!"

Imhotep glared at Rick, " _My Wife_." He snapped angrily.

Rick didn't understand what had just been said but smirked none the less, "Look what I got." He held up Evy's cat, who hissed at Imhotep.

The mummy screeched in fear before turning into a sandstorm and left through the window.

Once he was gone, Rick rushed to his shaken wife's side, "Are you alright?"

Krista opened her mouth to answer him, but was interrupted, "I'm not sure." Jonathan answered for her causing Rick and Krista to glare at him.

Krista turned back to Rick, "Don't ever leave me." She begged emotionally

Rick shook his head, "Never again." He held her close and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"We need to go back to the museum," Evy said from the doorway, "I think I've found a way to kill him."

* * *

"According to legend, the black book the Americans found at Hamunaptra... is supposed to bring people back from the dead." Evy explained as they made their way in the stairs of the museum, "Until now it was a notion I was unwilling to believe."

Rick scoffed, his hand holding tightly to Krista's as the followed Evy, "Believe it, sister. That's what brought our buddy back to life."

Evy nodded, "I'm thinking that if the black book can bring dead people to life…"

Krista cut her off in realization, "Then maybe the gold book can kill him."

"That's the myth. Now we just have to find out where the gold book is hidden."

Everyone stopped halfway up the stairs as they began to hear soft chanting coming from outside. It was a large group of people moving towards the museum chanting Imhotep's name.

"Last but not least, my favorite plague boils and sores." Jonathan muttered in disgust

"They have become his slaves," Ardeth interjected, "So it has begun, the beginning of the end."

Krista shook her head, "Not quite yet, it hasn't."

Evy nodded in agreement, "Come on." She led them a bit down the hallway till they stood before a giant rock slab covered in hieroglyphics.

Evy, Krista and Dr. Bay began looking over the slab as Evy stated, "According to Bembridge scholars, the golden Book of Amun-Ra... is located inside the statue of Anubis."

Daniels shook his head, "That's where we found the black book."

Evy nodded, "Exactly."

"Looks like the old boys at Bembridge were mistaken." Jonathan commented as he checked out the window.

"They mixed the books up. Mixed up where they were buried." Krista informed the group as she continued to read, "So if the black book is inside the statue of Anubis... then the golden book must be inside…"

Jonathan frowned over at his sisters, "Come one girls, faster."

"I'm going as fast as I can." Krista muttered distractedly

"Patience is a virtue." Evy sing-songed

"Not right now it isn't." Rick countered

"Uh, I think I'll go and get the car started." Jonathan said nervously as he turned as ran down the hall.

Krista grinned triumphantly, "I've got it. The golden Book of Amun-Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horus."

Evy yipped excitedly, "Take that, Bembridge scholars."

Krista chuckled, "You can rub it in their faces later. Right now, we've got to go."

The group ran out of the museum just in time as Jonathan pulled up in the car and everyone pilled in.

Jonathan hauled-ass down the narrow bazaar street as everyone looked back to see if any slaves had followed them, only to see that they were in the clear. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, until the car suddenly stopped and they were greet with a horde of a followers blocking their way.

No one moved for a moment, until Rick leaned forward and pressed hard on the gas pedal, forcing the car to speed through the slaves as they started running at them.

"Hand on!" Rick shouted to them as the car collided with the people. Several slaves managed to grab on to the car as they drove forward. Krista stood up and began helping the others shove the slaves off the car.

One of the slaves managed to grab a hold of Krista's arm and started trying to pull her out of the car. She fought to get her arm out of his grip, but he had a tight old. She began feeling around in the seat for anything to hit him with when her hand came in contact with one of Rick's guns. Krista picked up the gun and shot at the man holding her, hitting him square in the chest and causing him to release her from his grip as he fell backwards.

Krista started shooting as some of the other slaves with her new acquired gun when she heard a scream, "O'Connell! O'Connell!" She turned around to see Daniels get pulled out of the car by the slaves. As they drove further away, they could still hear Daniel's gun going off as he fought for his life.

They had made it a couple of more blocks away when Jonathan lost control of the car and they crashed. Everyone jumped out of the car and started running, With Rick tightly holding on to Krista's hand. It didn't take long for the slaves to corner them from all sides.

The slaves just stood there chanting Imhotep's names until he finally arrived, then they parted for him and he came striding forward with Beni not too far behind.

"It's the creature," Dr. Bay breathed, "he's fully regenerated."

Imhotep stepped closer and looked directly at Krista, " _Come with me, my beloved, I will restore your memories to you and we can spend the rest of eternity together."_

Beni translated what was said "Come with me, my beloved, I will return your memories to you and we can spend the rest of eternity together."

Imhotep's eyes then turned to Evy, " _You must come as well. I have a promise that must be fulfilled"_

Once again Beni translated, "You must come as well. I have a promise that must be completed."

Evy scoffed, "He said fulfilled, idiot."

Imhotep reached his hands out to the girls, _"Take my hands and I will spare your friends."_

Beni translated once more and Krista turned to her husband, "Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." He muttered

"Well you better think of something fast, because if he turns me into a mummy, you're the first one I'm coming after." Evy told him as she reached out for her sister's hand. The two glanced at one another before taking a step towards the Imhotep.

"No," Rick choked out, "Kris!" he called as he pulled out one of his pistols and aimed at Imhotep.

"Don't!" Krista shouted at Rick as Imhotep pulled her to him, "He still has to take us to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual."

"She's right," Ardeth agreed as he shoved Ricks hand down, "Live today, to fight tomorrow." Krista stared at her husband sadly; she was terrified but was trying not to let it show.

Rick reluctantly put his gun away and frowned at Imhotep, "I'll be seeing you again."

Imhotep just smirked at him and turned, leading the two girls away, " _Kill them all."_

Krista looked up at Imhotep in fright as she and Evy began struggling to get away from him, "No! Rick! Let me go! Rick!"

Imhotep gripped her tighter, " _Stop fighting me, beloved, you'll hurt Abraxes."_ Krista stopped fighting letting out a choked sob, what if she never got to see her husband again.

Imhotep and the girls disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.


	14. Chapter 14

The next thing Krista knew she was gently being lowered down onto the sandy ground, Imhotep's arms firmly wrapped around her to keep her steady.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, he released her and walked away looking up at the sky while Krista looked around, trying to figure out where they were.

"Oh my God." She breathed sadly.

"We're back." Evy finished as she came to stand beside her little sister.

Suddenly the two girls' gazes darted up to the sky at the sound of an engine. Then they saw it, a small airplane flying through the sky.

Krista grinned brightly, "Rick." She sighed happily and Evy reached out and squeezed her hand tightly.

Their happiness was short lived as they began to hear a rumbling noise, and the girls watched as Imhotep created a wall of sand and directed it towards the plane. He let out a roar and the sand wall consumed the plane.

"No!" Krista screamed as she ran towards Imhotep, "You'll kill them!"

Beni reached out to try and stop her from approaching the mummy, but Evy shoved him away from her sister.

Once Krista made it to Imhotep's side she saw that his eyes were closed in deep concentration. She needed to find a way to distract him, but how?"

Then she had an idea, it was a terrible idea, but it was all she could come up with in such short notice. Krista hesitantly reached out, grabbed Imhotep's face and pulled it down to her level, immediately placing her lips over his.

Imhotep's eyes shot open in shock, before slowly lowering again in the euphoric feel of his wife's lips on his again after so long; and with that came the loss of his concentration. The sand wall collapsed.

As soon as the plane was out of immediate danger Krista pulled away and grinned triumphantly, but it soon turned into a frown when she heard the plan's engine sputtering and the plan started smoking. It didn't take long for the plan to nosedive to the ground and crash.

"No." Krista choked out in a silent sob, while Imhotep simply grinned maliciously and pulled Krista's body closer to his as he turned and began leading her away towards Hamunaptra with Beni dragging Evy behind them.

They made it inside with Krista silently crying the whole time and Imhotep began leading them further into the city.

"Keep Moving." She heard Beni say from behind them.

"You know," Evy started, "Nasty little fellows such as yourself always get their comeuppance." She informed him snidely.

And Beni laughed for a moment before asking, "They do?"

"Oh yes." She assured him and Krista couldn't help but chuckle at the frightened sound of the man's voice.

They had followed Imhotep into the preparation room and Krista was slowly losing hope that they would be saved, she feared that her husband was dead and he wouldn't be coming for her.

Suddenly they heard a gunshot echo through the city and Imhotep scowls at the sound.

"Rick." Krista breathed out happily knowing her husband was alive and coming for her after all.

Imhotep angrily reached into a canopic Jar and pulled out the crusted remains of Anck-su-namun's heart. He crushed it to dust and began reading from The Book of the Dead. Then he blew the dust against a mausoleum wall, and the wall started to come to life. The other three occupants in the room watched the wall wide-eyed as creatures started emerging. Horrific looking mummified corpses, Imhotep's long dead Priests.

"The Bembridge Scholars never wrote about this." Evy muttered as she and Krista started moving away from the new mummies.

They bow to Imhotep, who returned the gesture and spoke to them, " _Kill them, and wake the others."_ The mummies bowed once more then turn and move off down a passageway.

Once the mummies had disappeared, Imhotep turned to face the two girls and walked closer to them. He leaned down to their level and blew some more dust in their face knocking both girls out instantly.

* * *

Krista woke up, only to find herself lying chained to the top of the altar. She looked around turning her head, only to see Evy on her other side with a mummified corpse lying next to her. She choked back her scream when she saw that Evy was waking up.

Evy opened her eyes and turn to look at her little sister in confusion, "What's going on?"

"Evy." Krista responded slowly, "What ever you do, don't turn around."

"What?" Evy asked as she turned her head, only to scream at the sight that greeted her.

Krista sighed, "I told you not to look." Chained tightly to the top of the altar, the two girls tried desperately to free themselves. However, they both stopped as Priest mummies started surrounding the altar. The ritual was starting.

Imhotep stepped forward carrying the black Book of the Dead. His hand reached out and lovingly caressed Krista's cheek, _"First I shall fulfill my promise and bring Anck-Su-Namun back to life. Then I will give you your memories back and we can begin our new life together, my beloved."_

Imhotep opened the book and slipped the key into his robes and began reading from The Book of the Dead.

"Rick!" Krista screamed out with all her might and Evy began to follow her example calling out for their brother.

A large swirling hole started to open in the pool next to the alter. Then suddenly, a strange mist started to waft up out of the swirling hole and over to the sacred jars, it passes through them and over Krista and Evy and into Anck-su-namun's body.

Anck-su-namun's crusty eyelids suddenly popped open and a high pitched screech left her mouth. The girls stared at her in disbelief. Anck-su-namun's rotted head turned and looked over at Evy with empty sockets, before looking over at Krista at well. Upon seeing Kridasha's reincarnation, the mummy let out another shriek of anger.

Neither girl could hold it in any long and let out a frightened scream and began struggling wildly against their shackles, only to stop when they noticed Imhotep moving closer to Evy and holding the ancient sacrificial knife. _"_ _With your death, Anck-Su-Namun shall live and my love and I will be invincible."_ He raised the blade up over Evelyn's chest, and prepared to plunge it down.

Evy's eyes widened in horror and she let out a scream.

Krista stared horrified, "No! Evy!"

At that moment Rick and Jonathan burst into the room causing Imhotep to spin around and face them.

"I found it, girls! I found it!" Jonathan beamed as he held up the golden Book of the Living.

Imhotep stared wide eyed, " _The book of Amun-Ra."_ He breathed out, shocked.

Krista grinned happily, "That's great Jonathan, now hurry up and get us out of here!" she screamed the last part.

"Open the book, Jonathan! Open the book! That's the only way to kill him!" Evy cried out and she continued to struggle to free herself.

"You have to find the right inscription!" Krista called out to him.

Jonathan fumbled with the book, struggling to open it, "I can't open it! It's locked or something!" he called out, "We need the key!"

"It's in his Robes!" Krista cried out, frustrated.

Meanwhile Rick had grabbed an ancient sword out of a statue's hand, jumped up onto a gravestone and leapt out over the Priests. Imhotep stepped forward and Rick knocked the sacrificial knife out of his hand.

Imhotep growled angrily and looked to his priests, " _Kill him!"_

The Priests stood up, swords and knives in hand, and began attacking Rick. He began fighting his way though the mummies till he reached the girls. The skeletal creatures began wildly swinging their swords, trying to stab Rick. He managed to cut two of the mummies in half, finally reaching the sisters and swung his sword down, cutting one of the chains holding their joined hands loose. Imhotep picked up a sacrificial sword and headed for Jonathan.

Krista groaned, "Do something Jonathan!"

"What do I do!? What do I do!?" He cried nervously

Evy scoffed, "Read the inscription on the cover of the book!"

"You have got to be joking!" He protested.

"Does it look like we have time to be joking, Jonathan? Just do it!" Krista yelled at him

Rick was able to cut the chains holding her legs. Jonathan ran to hide form Imhotep and quickly started trying to translating the cover inscription. Suddenly Evy let out a fearful scream, and Krista whirled around to see that Anck-Su-Namun had climbed up and was crawling towards the girls, the sacrificial blade in her hands. Rick was able to cut the last chain holding Krista down and she immediately began working to unlock Evy's bindings.

She finally get Evy free and the two jump off the altar and started to head for Rick, only to be stopped when something grabbed the both of them by the hair and pulled them back down on the alter. It's Anck-su-namun's rotted corpse.

Krista managed to reach up and smack the corpse causing her to let the girls go and they began to back away.

"Jonathan!" Krista called nervously, "Finish the inscription!"

Anck-su-namun lashed out at the girls, but Evy managed to fend her off as best she could, while trying to keep Krista as far away from the mummy as possible.

Jonathan quickly looked back at the hieroglyphs on the book cover, fumbling badly under the pressure, "Ummm, Hootash im ... Hootash I'm not sure what this last symbol here is?"

"What's it look like!?" Krista called out as she tried to keep back from Anck-su-namun. The corpse was able to grab Evy by the throat and Krista raced forward to try and pry her hand off her sister's throat only to be knocked back by the mummy.

Jonathan stared at the inscription," It's a bird, a stork!"

Anck-su-namun had a vice grip on Evy's throat and was trying to choke the life out of her. Krista race forward once more to try and get the mummy to release her sister, "Ahmenophus!"

Jonathan grinned triumphantly, "Yes, ...I see." He finished the translation and the mummy warriors suddenly stopped moving. Krista could hear Imhotep yelling orders at them, but they wouldn't listen they just stood there and waited for the command from their new master. Jonathan.

Jonathan ordered the mummies to destroy Anck-Su-Namun, who had stopped trying to strangle Evy in favor of attacking Krista. The mummies marched over and pulled Anck-Su-Namun off of her and made quick work of dismembering her body, but not before she was able to throw Krista across the room, knocking her out cold.

* * *

Krista awoke not too long after to the feel of the sun on her skin and when she opened her eyes she was faced with a blue sky. Krista groaned and whoever was carrying her stopped moving. "Kris? You alright?" It was Rick

Krista started to tear up and leaned forward to wrap her arms around him, "Rick, you're alive!"

Rick dropped her legs so he was able to wrap both arms around his wife and hold her tightly to him, "Yeah I'm alive."

She pulled away and looked around worriedly, but calmed down once she saw her siblings standing there. It was then she took notice that they were standing outside of where Hamunaptra was supposed to be, "What happened?"

Rick opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Jonathan's shocked gaps.

Everyone turned around at the sound only to find Ardeth sitting atop a camel and smiling down at them. "You have earned the respect and the gratitude of me and my people."

Jonathan waived off the praise, "It was nothing, all in a days work." And the other three couldn't stop the eye roll that come about.

Ardeth smiled again, "May Allah smile upon you always." Then he turned to Krista, "And may many blessing be bestowed upon your child." He kissed his hand and touched it to his forehead.

Jonathan once again answered for the group, "And…yourself."

Ardeth smiled once more and then turn his camel around left to go home. "He's just…going to leave us?" Jonathan moaned,

"Well I guess we go home empty-handed… again." He complained

Krista just laughed and shook her head, turning to look up at her husband; only to see that he was already watching her. "Well I don't know about you, darling, but I feel like the richest guy in the world." He murmured

Krista hummed, "Oh I can definitely agree with you there, love."

Rick leaned down and pulling his wife against his chest gave her a toe-curling kiss.

"Oh please." Evy said in amused disgust as she turned her head away.

The four of them found some camels and began making their way back home.


End file.
